Blanchard, Raphael Anatole Emile 1857 - 1919

Nationality:
French

Raphaël Blanchard was a French physician and zoologist who was a pioneer of medical zoology, with studies on parasites ranging from protozoa to worms and insects.

Blanchard was born in Saint-Christophe-sur-le-Nais on 28 February 1857 and he studied medicine in Paris in 1874. He became interested in zoology and worked at the laboratory at the École des Hautes-Études where he became a histological preparator for Charles Robin and Georges Pouchet, the latter influencing him towards studies on experimental teratology. He received a grant from Paris City Council, allowing him to travel around Europe in 1877 and study embryology in Vienna and comparative anatomy in Bonn. He later received another grant in 1880 to study the organisation of universities and biological education across Europe. He wrote a dissertation on anaesthesia induced by nitrous oxide in 1880 under Paul Bert and received a medical degree. He became a professor of natural history at the faculty of medicine in Paris in 1883. In 1884 he also became a professor in the school of anthropology. He taught medical zoology from 1883 to 1887. He became interested in microbiology after studies at the Institut Pasteur in 1896 and took an interest in parasitology. He founded the journal Archives de parasitologie in 1898.

In 1889 he served as the secretary general for the 1st International Congress of Zoology in Paris alongside the Universal Exhibition. He was made officer of the Legion of Honor in 1912. Towards the end of his life, he studied medical works from the Middle Ages including stone inscriptions. Blanchard died on 7 February 1919.