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René Laënnec

René Laënnec (full name, René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec) was born on February 17, 1781 in Quimper, France. He was a French musician and physician that is known for his invention of the stethoscope.

Early Life

Laënnec was born to Michelle Félicité Guesdon Laënnec and Théophile-Marie Laënnec. His mother passed away from tuberculosis when he was about 5 years old. He and his brother were left in the care of their financially incompetent father. However, in 1793, he and his brother were sent to live with their uncle, Guillaime-François Laennec. Guillaime happened to be the dean of medicine at the University of Nantes, which sparked the interest of René in pathway of medicine. After being under the guidance and care of his uncle, Laënnec was prepared to begin his journey into the medical field. Unfortunately, he was discouraged from making that decision due to him being the son of a lawyer. Overwhelmed and undecided, Laënnec spent some time away, studying Greek and writing poetry.

Education and Occupation

René, then, returned to his study in 1799 and enrolled in Paris’ finest hospital, the Hôpital de la Charité. At this hospital, he studied under multiple famous physicians such as, Dupuytren and Jean-Nicolas Corvisart-Desmarets. There he was alos trained to use sound as a diagnostic aid. He became a member of the Societe d'Instruction Medicale due to being such a gifted student.

Laënnec wrote several scientific papers on various topics and he began to publish them in 1802. His doctoral thesis on the relationship of the ancient Greek Hippocratic doctrine to practical medicine allowed for him to elected into the Société de l'Ecole de Medecine in 1804.

From 1812-1813, he was in charge of the ward at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris during the Napoleonic Wars. His Roman Catholic background also allowed for him to serve as a personal physician to Napoleon's half brother until 1814. In 1816, René became a physician at the Necker Hospital in Paris, where an experience with a patient led him to invent the stethoscope.

Contribution to Medicine

Due to the lack of modern equipment, physicians examined a patient’s chest sounds by placing their ear on the patient’s chest. Laënnec did not enjoy this process when it came to examining women. After feeling uncomfortable and not making any progress with placing his ear to the chest of an overweight female patient, Laënnec came up with a way to hear chest sounds without invading others’ personal space. During the actual experience, René placed a rolled up piece of paper to the patient's chest, which made it easier for him to hear the chest sounds. The name came from stethos (chest) and skopos (examination). His initial model was made from a wooden tube and is said to have been monoaural.

Laënnec also established the terms melanoma (type of skin cancer) and cirrhosis (liver disease). Laënnec was the first to recognize that melanotic lesions were the result of metastatic melanoma. His report on the disease was initially presented during a lecture for the Faculté de Médecine de Paris in 1804 and then published as a bulletin in 1806. Laennec's cirrhosis, a disease associated with inflammatory polyarthritis is named after him.

Awards and Achievements

In 1803, Laënnec was honored by the government with First Prize in Medicine and Sole Prize in Surgery.

In 1824, he was made knight of the Legion of Honor

Personal Life

Laennec was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1826 and passed away that same year at the age of 45, leaving behind his wife of two years.