Chamberlen, Hugh, The Elder

Chamberlen, Hugh, The Elder

▪ British midwife
born 1630, London
died c. 1720

      British male midwife, prominent member of a family of medical men remembered for the parts they played in the introduction of the obstetrical forceps. Hugh was the grandnephew of Peter Chamberlen the Elder, inventor of the forceps, and was its chief exploiter.

      A midwife to the queen of Charles II, Chamberlen used his place at court and contacts abroad to enhance his commercial use of the instrument, which had since its invention been rigidly guarded as a family secret. While in Paris (1670), he unsuccessfully offered the secret of the instrument to the French government in exchange for 10,000 talers (about $3,800). Two years later he produced an English translation of the celebrated French surgeon François Mauriceau's treatise on midwifery, making reference to the forceps in the preface. The book became a standard obstetrical text for 75 years. The failure of several of his sensational projects relating to land banks, state medical services, and prevention of plague forced him to leave England for Scotland, from which he went to the Netherlands. It was in the latter country that Hugh, probably impoverished near the end of his life, sold his secret to the Dutch surgeon Roger Van Roonhuysen.

Additional Reading
W. Radcliffe, The Secret Instrument: The Story of the Chamberlen Forceps (1947); J.H. Aveling, The Chamberlens and the Midwifery Forceps (1882); K. Das, Obstetric Forceps: Its History and Evolution (1929).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chamberlen, Hugh — born 1630, London, Eng. died с 1720, London British midwife. He was grandnephew of Peter Chamberlen the Elder (1560–1631), who invented the obstetrical forceps. A midwife to Catherine, queen of Charles II of England, Hugh Chamberlen used his… …   Universalium

  • Peter Chamberlen — was the name of two brothers, the sons of William Chamberlen (about 1540 1596), a Huguenot surgeon who fled from Paris to England in 1576. They are famous as they discovered the modern use of obstetrical forceps. It remained a family secret for… …   Wikipedia

  • History of insurance — refers to the development of a modern laws and market in insurance against risks. In some sense we can say that insurance appears simultaneously with the appearance of human society. We know of two types of economies in human societies: money… …   Wikipedia

  • History of Medicine —     History of Medicine     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► History of Medicine     The history of medical science, considered as a part of the general history of civilization, should logically begin in Mesopotamia, where tradition and philological… …   Catholic encyclopedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”