author

Charles Ducroquet

1872–1929

A pioneering French orthopedic surgeon, he wrote practical works on prosthetics and helped push the field forward at a time when modern rehabilitation medicine was still taking shape. His career also carried real personal risk: later accounts say he died from the effects of early X-ray exposure.

1 Audiobook

Artificial Limbs

Artificial Limbs

by Auguste Broca, Charles Ducroquet

About the author

Born on May 20, 1872, in Morcourt, France, Charles Ducroquet is remembered as a surgeon and orthopedic specialist whose work focused on helping people regain function after serious injury. Library records link him to the fields of orthopedics and artificial limbs, and contemporary bibliographic sources identify him as the co-author of Artificial Limbs with Auguste Broca.

His writing and medical work were especially connected with prosthetics for war amputees. A summary of Artificial Limbs describes practical experience fitting large numbers of disabled veterans and emphasizes useful, functional design over appearance alone. Another historical account credits him with creating a functional prosthesis for severely wounded soldiers and even notes that he learned shoemaking techniques to better understand orthopedic equipment.

Ducroquet died on May 14, 1929. A later French memorial article describes him as a victim of the early, poorly understood dangers of X-ray radiation, presenting him as one of the medical figures who quite literally gave his health to his work.