Paul-Ferdinand Gachet (30 July 1828 – 9 January 1909) was a French physician most famous for treating the painter Vincent van Gogh during his last weeks in Auvers-sur-Oise. Gachet was a great supporter of artists and the Impressionist movement. He was an amateur painter, signing his works "Paul van Ryssel", referring to his birthplace: Rijsel is the Dutch name of Lille. Biography He was born and raised in Lille. His family moved to Mechelen, where Gachet's father was transferred to in 1844/1845 to start a new branch of the firm he was working for. While a student at the University of Paris, he learnt drawing in his spare time, and collected paintings by Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet. After gaining his BA degree, he worked at the mental hospitals of Bicêtre and Salpêtrière. His teachers included Armand Trousseau. In 1858 he received a medical degree for his thesis Étude sur la Mélancolie (Éditeur du Montpellier Médecal). He returned to Paris and set up a private homeopathic practice. Gachet married Blanche Castets in 1868. Their daughter, Margueritte Clémentine Elisa was born in 1869. In 1872 he moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, a town around from the centre of the city that was popular with artists. There he continued his medical practice, but also associated with artists such as Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne, Cézanne helping him establish his own studio in his attic. Gachet also knew Gustave Courbet, Champfleury and Victor Hugo. He was a friend of the chemist Henri Nestlé and prescribed Nestlé's new powdered milk supplement to some of his child patients. Under the pen-name Blanche de Mézin, he published books in medicine and art-criticism. He spent much time with Charles Méryon after the etcher's committal to Charenton. He oversaw Auguste Renoir's recovery from pneumonia in 1882. He advised Édouard Manet against the amputation of his leg. However, Manet did not follow this advice. Gachet's tomb is situated in section 52 of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Gachet and Vincent van Gogh Vincent van Gogh suffered from a mental disorder and was sent to an asylum on 8 May 1889. He then was released from the asylum in May 1890, but continuation of treatment was required, which included Van Gogh being under supervision. Vincent's brother, Theo van Gogh, thought that Gachet's background and sensitivity toward artists would make him an ideal doctor for Vincent during his recovery. Very soon after he