Revra DePuy (March 22, 1860 – October 9, 1921), was an American inventor, noted for his invention of the fiber splint. He was the founder of DePuy Manufacturing, now part of

Johnson and Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and Medical device, medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publi ...

(J&J).

Biography

DePuy was born in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, where his father was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, but the family moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

when Revra was a child. After his father died, Revra's mother moved the family to

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. As a young man, DePuy supported himself by doing many kinds of work. He worked as a clerk in a

drug store A pharmacy (also called drugstore in American English or community pharmacy or chemist in Commonwealth English) is a premises which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of ...

, and then studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, where he received a degree. After college, he invented a technique for sugar coating pills. Later, he worked as a traveling salesman. DePuy settled in

Warsaw, Indiana Warsaw is a city in and the county seat of Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. Warsaw has a population of 15,804 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. Warsaw also borders a smaller town, Winona Lake. Etymology Warsaw, named after the capital of ...

, and decided to make a fiber splint to replace the wooden barrel splints which were used back then to set

bone fracture A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a ''c ...

s. DePuy Manufacturing became the first commercial orthopedic manufacturer in the world. The company operated out of the Hayes Hotel in Warsaw from 1895 - 1901. On March 9, 1896, he married Miss Winifred Stoner, who was the daughter of the sheriff of Kosciusko County. Their marriage was childless. DePuy moved the manufacturing site to

Niles, Michigan Niles is a city in Berrien County, Michigan, Berrien and Cass County, Michigan, Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near the Indiana state line city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. The population was 11,988 according to the 2020 Unit ...

, from 1901 to 1904, then moved back to

after sales slumped. At that point, he built a factory at the corner of Columbia and Center streets in Warsaw, where the company made "fracture appliances" from 1904 to 1925. In 1905, J.O. Zimmer began working for DePuy as the first sales representative. Zimmer later left DePuy and founded

Zimmer Holdings Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded American medical device company. It was founded in 1927 to produce aluminum splints. The firm is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, where it is part of the medical devices business cluster. In 200 ...

. DePuy died of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

aged 61, on October 9, 1921, in

. His wife later married Herschel Leiter, who then became president of DePuy Manufacturing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Depuy, Revra 1860 births 1921 deaths American inventors American expatriates in Canada People from Marseilles, Illinois University of Toronto alumni People from Warsaw, Indiana People from Grand Rapids, Michigan