Raoul Bensaude (26 January 1866 – 25 October 1938) was a French-Portuguese physician born in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

of Portuguese-Jewish descent. He became a famous

gastroenterologist Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

that pioneered

proctology Colorectal surgery is a field in medicine dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and colon. The field is also known as proctology, but this term is now used infrequently within medicine and is most often employed to identify practices relati ...

in France. With Pierre-Emile Launois (1856–1914), he provided a detailed description of multiple symmetrical

lipomatosis Lipomatosis is believed to be an autosomal dominant condition in which multiple lipomas are present on the body. Many discrete, encapsulated lipomas form on the trunk and extremities, with relatively few on the head and shoulders. In 1993, a gene ...

, also referred to as "Launois-Bensaude syndrome". Raoul Bensaude went to school in Germany near

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and moved to

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 ...

to study medicine. His doctoral thesis under supervision of Emile Charles Achard (1860-1944) was noticed as the first characterization of the

bacillus ''Bacillus'', from Latin "bacillus", meaning "little staff, wand", is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum ''Bacillota'', with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-sh ...

, ''

Salmonella paratyphi ''Salmonella enterica'' subsp. ''enterica'' is a subspecies of ''Salmonella enterica'', the rod-shaped, flagellated, aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium. Many of the pathogenic serovars of the ''S. enterica'' species are in this subspecies, includin ...

B'' causing

paratyphoid fever Paratyphoid fever, also known simply as paratyphoid, is a bacterial infection caused by one of three types of '' Salmonella enterica''. Symptoms usually begin 6–30 days after exposure and are the same as those of typhoid fever. Often, a gradu ...

. Bensaude then moved to

Hôpital Saint-Antoine Hôpital Saint-Antoine () is a university hospital of the Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris at ''184, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine''. It is part of the AP-HP Sorbonne University Hospi ...

in Paris, where he was patronized by

Georges Hayem Georges Hayem (25 November 1841 – 28 August 1933) was a physician and hematologist born in Paris. He studied medicine in Paris, and later became a professor of therapy and materia medica. Beginning in 1878 he practiced medicine at the Hôpital ...

(1841–1933) and finished his career as ''chef de service''. Bensaude made multiple contributions in the field of

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

. Thanks to

Lucius Littauer Lucius Nathan Littauer (January 20, 1859 – March 2, 1944) was an American politician, businessman, and college football coach. He served in the United States House of Representatives from New York for five terms between 1897 and 1907. Littaue ...

, an American philanthropist, he founded at

the first service of

in France. He is credited for popularizing

sclerotherapy Sclerotherapy (the word reflects the Greek ''skleros'', meaning ''hard'') is a procedure used to treat blood vessel malformations ( vascular malformations) and also malformations of the lymphatic system. A medication is injected into the vessels ...

for treatment of

hemorrhoid Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''h ...

s, and developed a model of rectoscope named after him. His treatise ''Rectoscopie: Sigmoïdoscopie. Traité d'endoscopie recto-colique'' had a worldwide impact.Martin J. Synnott ''Raoul Bensaude of Paris'' (1936) American Journal of Digestive Disease and Nutrition Volume 3, Number 4, pp262-267

Works

* Raoul Bensaude, ''Le phénomène de l’agglutination des microbes et ses applications à la pathologie (Le sérodiagnostic)'' Thèse, Paris 1897. - The phenomenon of agglutination of microbes and its applications to pathology (

serology Serology is the scientific study of Serum (blood), serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the medical diagnosis, diagnostic identification of Antibody, antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in r ...

). * Georges Hayem, ''Leçons sur les maladies du sang'' recueillies par É. Parmentier et R. Bensaude. Masson, Paris 1900. - Lectures on diseases of the blood collected by Parmentier & Bensaude. * Raoul Bensaude, Pierre Hillemand, André Lambling, et Roger Cattan. ''Rectoscopie: Sigmoïdoscopie. Traité d'endoscopie recto-colique''. Masson et Cie, Paris 1919, 1926. "Ouvrage couronné par l'Académie de médecine." - Rectoscopy:

sigmoidoscopy Sigmoidoscopy ("sigma", the Greek term for letter " s/ς" + "eidos" + "scopy": namely, to look inside an "s"/"ς"-like object) is the minimally invasive medical examination of the large intestine from the rectum through to the nearest part of th ...

. treatise on colonic

endoscopy An endoscopy is a procedure used in medicine to look inside the body. The endoscopy procedure uses an endoscope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike many other medical imaging techniques, endoscopes are insert ...

. * Raoul Bensaude ''Traité des maladies de l’intestin'' vol.I, Masson Paris, 1931. - treatise on diseases of the

intestine The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. T ...

. * Raoul Bensaude ''Traité des maladies de l’intestin'' vol.II, Masson Paris, 1932. * Raoul Bensaude ''Traité des maladies de l’intestin'' vol.III, Masson Paris, 1935. * Raoul Bensaude ''Maladies de l'intestin'' vol. IV. ''Les hémorroïdes et leur traitement, fissure anale, prurit anal, etc.'' Masson Paris, 1939. - Diseases of the intestine, Volume IV. Hemorrhoids and their treatment,

anal fissures An anal fissure is a break or tear in the skin of the anal canal. Anal fissures may be noticed by bright red anal bleeding on toilet paper and undergarments, or sometimes in the toilet. If acute they are painful after defecation, but with chro ...

pruritus ani Pruritus ani is the irritation of the skin at the exit of the rectum, known as the anus, causing the desire to scratch. The intensity of anal itching increases from moisture, pressure, and rubbing caused by clothing and sitting. At worst, anal it ...

, etc.

References

Bibliography

* Richard Kohn (2003) pp278–279 in ''L’activité scientifique des médecins juifs en France depuis 1789'' dans ''Mélanges d’histoires de la médecine hébraïque. Etudes choisies de la Revue d’Histoire de la Médecine Hébraïque (1948-1985)''. Gad Freudenthal, Samuel S Kottek eds., Leyde, BRILL Academic Publishers. * Martin J. Synnott (1936) ''Raoul Bensaude of Paris'' in ''American Journal of Digestive Disease and Nutrition'' Volume 3, Number 4, pp262–267. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bensaude, Raoul 1866 births 1938 deaths French gastroenterologists French people of Portuguese-Jewish descent French physicians Portuguese physicians Jewish Portuguese physicians