Roger Kenneth French

Roger Kenneth French (12 April 1938 – 14 May 2002) was an English medical historian, specialising in medieval and Renaissance medical history. He was one of the world's leading experts on the anatomical work of William Harvey.

Biography

Roger French was born in Coventry,
where his parents ran a butchering and cold-storage business. After attending the King Henry VIII School, Coventry, he matriculated at St Catherine's College, Oxford. There he graduated with a bachelor's degree in zoology, an M.A. in 1961 in medical history, and a PhD in 1965 in medical history. His PhD thesis on the career of the Scottish physician Robert Whytt was supervised by Alistair Cameron Crombie. As a postdoc, French was a research fellow from 1965 to 1966 at the University of Leicester. He held appointments as a lecturer from 1965 to 1968 at the University of Leicester and a lecturer from 1968 to 1975 at the University of Aberdeen. At Aberdeen, his colleagues included George Molland (1941–2002) and Andrew William Wear (b. 1946), who later moved to the University of Cambridge.

In 1975 French became the director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Science, University of Cambridge, and continued as director until 1995. At the University of Cambridge, he was also from 1975 to 1991 a lecturer in the history of medicine. He was a fellow of Clare College, Cambridge.

As director of the Wellcome Unit of Cambridge University, French worked with several colleagues, including Andrew Cunningham, Andrew William Wear, (1936–2000), Iain M. Lonie, Johanna Geyer-Kordesch, and Frank Greenaway, to organise a number of symposia and conferences on various topics in the history of medicine. The results were published in many volumes, including ''The medical renaissance of the sixteenth century'' (Cambridge University Press, 1985), ''Science in the early Roman Empire: Pliny the Elder, his sources and his influence'' (London, Croom Helm, 1986), ''The medical revolution of the seventeenth century'' (Cambridge University Press, 1989), ''The medical enlightenment of the eighteenth century'' (Cambridge University Press, 1990), ''Practical Medicine from Salerno to the Black Death'' (Cambridge University Press, 1993), and ''Medicine from the Black Death to the French Disease'' (Ashgate Publishing, 1998). During French's directorship, the Wellcome Unit flourished in productivity.

Although he specialised in medieval and Renaissance medical history, French's publications covered a wide range from ancient Greek medical texts to 19th century medical reform. He served as a general editor for Routledge's book series ''Sciences of Antiquity''. French was a member of the editorial board of the journal ''Medical History''.

Roger and Patricia Anne French married on 13 August 1966. From their 35-year marriage, there were two daughters and a son.

Selected publications

Articles

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Books

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brief description at Cambridge University Press
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front matter description, Cambridge University Press
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abstract & table of contents at Taylor & Francis website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Roger Kenneth
1938 births
2002 deaths
British historians of science
British medical historians
20th-century English historians
21st-century English historians
People educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry
Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford
Academics of the University of Leicester
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
Academics of the University of Cambridge