surgeon. On the other hand, he was extremely critical of students and colleagues who failed to live up to his exacting professional standards. This, along with his desire to be the best of the best won him numerous critics, not all of them objective. He was described by such colourful epithets as 'The Brigand of Hôtel-Dieu' by Jacques Lisfranc and 'First among surgeons, least among men' by Pierre-François Percy. In fiction The surgeon Desplein, in Balzac's short story "The Atheist's Mass," is based on Dupuytren. Dupuytren's success at draining a cerebral abscess is referred to in Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary: "not Dupuytren, about to open up an abscess through a thick encephalic layer" (Part Two, Chapter 11). Reference is made in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables: “Dupuytren and Recamier entered into a quarrel in the amphitheatre of the School of Medicine, and threatened each other with their fists on the subject of the divinity of Jesus Christ.” In Diana Gabaldon's fifth book of the Outlander series, The Fiery Cross, pages 1227-1229, Claire balances her future knowledge with current medical notes since the Baron Dupuytren has yet to be born. Stephen Maturin of the Aubrey–Maturin series received some of his medical training in Paris, conceding to have "dissected with Dupuytren" while there. References Sources External links Catholic Encyclopedia article Baron Guillaume Dupuytren. WhoNamedIt. Baron Guillaume Dupuytren History of Surgeons – surgeons.org.uk On the injuries and diseases of bones by Guillaume Dupuytren (1847) Lesions of the Vascular System, Diseases of the Rectum, and other surgical complaints by Guillaume Dupuytren (1854) 1777 births 1835 deaths People from Haute-Vienne French surgeons French anatomists 19th-century French physicians 18th-century French physicians French pathologists French military doctors Members of the French Academy of Sciences Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery