Frère Jacques Beaulieu Explained

Frère Jacques Beaulieu, OP (in French pronounced as /fʁɛʁ ʒɑk boljø/); 1651–1720), also known as Frère Jacques Baulot,[1] [2] was a travelling lithotomist with scant knowledge of anatomy and was also a Dominican friar. Beaulieu performed the frequently deadly procedure in France into the early 18th century.[3]

The urologic community often claims Beaulieu is subject of the French nursery rhyme Frère Jacques (also known in English as Brother John), but this is not well-established. A possible connection between Frère Jacques and Beaulieu, as claimed by Irvine Loudon[4] and many others, was explored by J. P. Ganem and C. C. Carson [5] without finding any evidence for a connection.

Some have suggested that Frère Jacques was instead written to mock the Jacobin monks of France (Jacobins are what the Dominicans are called in Paris).[6]

References

  1. http://beaufort39.free.fr/baulot.htm baulot
  2. Un célèbre lithotomiste franc-comtois : Jacques Baulot dit Frère Jacques (1651-1720), E. Bourdin, Besançon, 1917
  3. A biographical sketch of him is available on Pubmed at: 2238378 . 19309876 . 5 . 4. "Observables" at the Royal College of Surgeons: 22. Frère Jacques . 1949 . Ann R Coll Surg Engl . 275–81 . Barrett . NR.
  4. Western Medicine, Irvine Loudon, Oxford University Press, Dec 1, 2001,
  5. Ganem . JP . Carson . CC . Apr 1999 . Frère Jacques Beaulieu: from rogue lithotomist to nursery rhyme character . J. Urol. . 161 . 4. 1067–9 . 10.1016/s0022-5347(01)61591-x. 10081839 .
  6. http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2852.htm eMedicine - Bladder Stones : Article by Joseph Basler