Leo Testut

Leo Testut (1849-1925)

Leo Testut (1849–1925) was a French physician and anatomist, born in Saint-Avit-Sénieur, Dordogne.

He was born Jean Leo Testut on March 22, 1849, the son of Jean Testut and Marie Deynat. He studied medicine in Bordeaux. His studies were interrupted because of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870; he was readmitted to the Bordeaux School of Medicine in 1878. He completed his studies with a thesis for which he obtained medals from several Universities in France. He was named Professor of Anatomy of the Bordeaux School of Medicine and continued his investigations in anthropology in other universities. He contributed with over 90 publications on anatomy, anthropology, prehistory and history, but his most noteworthy achievement has been being author of "Traité d´anatomie humaine" a complete, well written, and well illustrated work of anatomy composed of 4 volumes that continues to be used in many countries to the present day. The illustrations present in this book continues to be a major source of reference to other anatomy books.[1] It is popularly known in medical schools where it is considered the standard anatomy textbook, that he collected the material published from personal notes and drawings after having failed anatomy exams several times during medical school until he finally passed.

In 1889, Léo Testut announced that a prehistoric skull, found in Chancelade, was of a new race, which he called the "Chancelade race", which he argued was the ancestor of the Eskimo.[2] This hypothesis, though confirmed by many of his contemporaries,[3] is now rejected, and the Chancelade skull is considered to be a Cro-Magnon. Leo Testut died on January 16, 1925 in Bordeaux.

References

  1. ↑ Rev.Inst.Méd."Sucre"LXXI:128(98-105)2006
  2. ↑ Recherches anthropologiques sur le Squelette quaternaire de Chancelade, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop. de Lyon, 1889
  3. ↑ W. J. Sollas, The Chancelade Skull, 1927 Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

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