Nathaniel St André

Nathaniel St. André ( * 1680 in Switzerland, † 1776) was a Swiss anatomist and obstetrician, who lived in London and practiced.

Life

1680-1726

Nathaniel St. André was born in Switzerland and came from a poor family. In his youth he should have come as a servant to a wealthy Jewish family in London. Later he made ​​his way as a private tutor through, taught German and French and worked as a fencing or dance teacher. When St. André injured in fencing of one of his students and was taken to a practicing surgeon, he was impressed by his work so that he decided to become a doctor himself.

He was trained by a London surgeon, worked at the Polyclinic of the Westminister Hospital and eventually opened his own practice.

In 1723 he published a translated into English version of the font Traité des opérations de chirurgie of the French surgeon Rene Jacques Croissant de Garengeot ( 1688-1759 ).

Although St. André belonged to no academy, never achieved a degree or a medical degree, nor officially as Bader was established, appointed the Hanoverian King George I him in May 1723 to the royal anatomist and consulted him in 1726 personally from non- traditional reasons. In medical circles of London St. André was very unpopular; it could be assumed him to have reached the contacts to the king only because of his knowledge of German.

1725 brought St. André complaint for attempted murder against unknown poison, because he stated that he should be poisoned. The case was closed without result.

Fraud case of Mary Toft (1726)

1726 St. André was involved in the fraud scandal of the English maid Mary Toft. Toft became a national celebrity because she had allegedly brought rabbits to the world, what an extensive medical and public controversy aroused and provoked enormous interest in the population. On November 26, 1726 St. André held in London from an anatomical demonstration in the presence of the king and the heir apparent to explain the " medical sensation ". He also published a paper with the description of the events so far.

Although ultimately quickly cleared up as a fraud, the action was for weeks the talk of the whole country and the subject of countless newspaper and magazine articles, cartoons and pamphlets. Because of his credulity St. André public scorn and ridicule was exposed, his medical career was ruined. He was allowed to keep his title as Anatomist of the royal court, but its has not received at court, and George I let him escape skills, tasks and grade.

1726-1776

On May 17, 1730 St. André married in Heston, Hounslow in Middlesex at the wealthy Lady Elizabeth Capel, called Betty Molyneux, which made him financially independent. She was the widow of the deceased on April 13, 1728 at the age of 39 years, Samuel Molyneux, who was also involved in the fraud case of Mary Toft and the patient of St. André was. The marriage caused another scandal, as St. André was now suspected to have poisoned Molyneux. Although the suspect was never substantial, dismissed Queen Caroline Betty Molyneux from the social circles of London's Royal Court and so forced the pair to withdraw to the country.

1750 they moved to Southampton, where she lived until her death.

Writings (selection )

• A short narrative of an extraordinary delivery of rabbets perform'd by Mr. John Howard, Surgeon at Guilford. 2nd edition. . London ( English, digitized at Internet Archive ) 1726
• Rene Jacques Croissant de Garengeot: A treatise of chirurgical operations. According to the mechanism of the parts of the human body. 1723rd ( translation from French into English by Nathaniel St. André, French Original Title: Traité des opérations de chirurgie Suivant la méchanique the parties du corps humain. . )