Auguste Nélaton (June 17, 1807 – September 21, 1873) was a French physician and surgeon.
Born at Paris, he began studying medicine in 1828 and was graduated as an M.D. in 1836 with a thesis on the effects of tuberculosis on the bones. Three years later, he became a professor at the Hôpital St. Louis with a habilitation on breast tumors. From 1851 to 1867, he was a full professor, a post he abandoned when he became the personal surgeon of Napoleon III. Ramón Emeterio Betances—Puerto Rican pro-independence leader, surgeon and Légion d'honneur laureate—was one of Nélaton's prominent students. [1] In 1868, he was appointed Imperial Senator.
Nélaton worked in plastic surgery. He was the first to re-emphasize ligature of the two ends of arteries in hemorrhages first promoted by Ambroise Paré in the mid 1500s, invented the porcelain-knobbed probe for locating bullets known as Nélaton's probe, and made noted contributions to pelvic and abdominal surgery.
In 1867, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.