Claude Bourgelat family name Bourgelat
Claude Bourgelat (27 March 1712 – 3 January 1779) was a French veterinary surgeon. He was a founder of scientifically informed veterinary medicine, and he created one of the earliest schools for training professional veterinarians.Life and career
Bourgelat was born at Lyon. He initially studied law and worked as a barrister, but he became interested in veterinary medicine because of his interest in horses.In 1740, at the age of 28, Bourgelat became the head of the Lyon Academy of Horsemanship. As an amateur horsemanship enthusiast, he developed a style of horse riding that is still used as of today. In 1750 Bourgelat wrote a book on the topic of veterinary medicine, in which he considered the idea of founding a veterinary school. He followed through on the idea in 1761 (also variously given as 1762 or 1764), when he co-founded the veterinary colleges at Lyon. He founded the veterinary college specifically to combat the cattle plague (also called the rinderpest), and students trained at the Lyon veterinary college were credited with helping to cure the disease.Bourgelat was noted for being an early practitioner of scientifically informed veterinary medicine, which incorporated ideas from natural history, chemistry, clinical medicine, and comparative anatomy.Bourgalet was a member of the French Academy of Sciences and the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He also contributed to Diderot and d'Alambert's Encyclopédie.
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