Antonio gimbernat y arbós: An anatomist‐surgeon of the enlightenment (in the 220th anniversary of his “a new method of operating the crural hernia”)

This article focuses on Antonio de Gimbernat y Arbós (1734–1816), with particular attention paid to his famous publication “Nuevo método de operar en la hernia crural” (2013 marking its 220 anniversary), which was translated into English by Thomas Beddoe two years later (A new method of operating for the femoral hernia Translated from the Spanish of Don Antonio de Gimbernat, To which are added, with plates by the translator, queries respecting a safer method of performing inoculation). Antonio de Gimbernat y Arbós, a Spanish anatomist and surgeon, was one of the pioneers during the “Age of Dissection” (late 18th Century). He was a man of great willpower, bright, thorough, and unique. From his careful anatomical study in the inguinal region, he made a detailed description of the lacunar ligament, which John Hunter called the Gimbernat's ligament in his honor. Antonio de Gimbernat y Arbós also proposed an advanced treatment for strangulated femoral hernias. He acquired extraordinarily broad surgical skills with therapeutic orientation, conservative, not aggressive, based on the knowledge he had gained through dissection. Furthermore, though this is less well known nowadays, Antonio de Gimbernat y Arbós was also relevant organizer of education and health‐services — as it was the custom of the great physician of this time. Consequently, Antonio de Gimbernat y Arbós is truly representative of the great figures of the anatomists‐surgeons of the Enlightenment. Clin. Anat. 26:800–809, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.