Dominique Anel ( – ),

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, was born at

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Anel was a pupil of well-known French surgeons J. L. Petit (1674-1750) and

Georges Mareschal Georges Mareschal (8 April 1658, Calais – 13 December 1736, Château de Bièvres) was a French surgeon. In 1707 he was ennobled, and was known as Georges Mareschal, seigneur de Bièvre. He was the son of John Marshall, an Irish gentleman w ...

(1658-1736). After studying at

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he served as surgeon-major in the French army in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

; then after two years at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

he went to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and served in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n army. In 1710 he was teaching surgery in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, whence he went to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, and in 1716 he was practising in Paris. In military, Anel’s job was to clean soldiers’ wounds at the battle fields. He invented a small suction syringe which was used to remove much of the dirt and infection. This prevented the professional ‘suckers’ who followed the armies at that time to offer lip-service for money. Anel’s syringe survived with modification for 250 years. This became the forerunner of modern

aspirator Aspirator may refer to: * Aspirator (medical device), a suction device used to remove bodily fluids from a patient * Aspirator (pump), a device producing vacuum by the Venturi effect in a constricted stream of fluid * Aspirator (entomology), also k ...

. Based on this unique design, hypodermic syringes were ultimately improved. Anel syringe from 17th century

Anel was celebrated for his successful surgical treatment of ''

fistula In anatomy, a fistula (: fistulas or fistulae ; from Latin ''fistula'', "tube, pipe") is an abnormal connection (i.e. tube) joining two hollow spaces (technically, two epithelialized surfaces), such as blood vessels, intestines, or other h ...

lacrymalis'', and while at Genoa invented for use in connection with the operation the fine-pointed

syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside ...

known by his name. In 1713, Anel became famous after he treated the

Duchess of Savoy This is a list of consorts of the Savoyard monarchs. Countess of Savoy, 1003–1416 Duchess of Savoy, 1416–1713 ;As courtesy title Queen of Sardinia, 1720–1861 Between 1859 and 1861 the Kingdom of Sardinia incorporated the majo ...

for lacrimal fistulae in a period of ten days. His daughter was Marie-Angélique Anel Le Rebours, the first woman to write a book and manual about breastfeeding.

References

French surgeons 1670s births 1730 deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain {{France-med-bio-stub