Born On This Day ~ March 27 ~ Claude Bourgelat

Claude_Bourgelat Born: March 27, 1712 (Lyon, France)
Died: January 3, 1779 (Paris, France)

Famous For/Known For: Founder of the worlds first veterinary school in Lyon, France in 1761.

A Little About

Claude Bourgelat:
Born into a noble Lyon family.

Bourgelat graduated from law school and was an attorney for a while. Because of moral concerns he quit practicing law and took over management of a riding academy.

A few years later, Bourgelat began writing journals about his research and knowledge of horses.

He contributed over 235 articles to the French Encyclopedia on a variety of subjects pertaining to horses, such as gallop, shoeing, epilepsy, and fever.

With the outbreak of a cattle plague Bourgelat called upon King Louis XV for his help in organizing a way to train people on how to treat animal disease.

In 1761 with the Kings support and Bourgelat’s relentless efforts the first veterinary college was established.

After setting up the veterinary college in Lyon, Bourgelat went on to establish another in Paris, France. This establishment was the one that generated incentive for more veterinary school medical teaching centers in Europe.

Bourgelat was a member of the French Academy of Science and the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

Claude Bourgelat died possibly from gout at the age of 67.

Books About/Written By Claude Bourgelat