Urbain Hémard

Urbain Hémard (c. 1548 in Entraygues, Rouergue – 14 October 1592 in Estaing, Rouergue) was a French physician and dentist. He wrote the first French work entirely devoted to dentistry.

Biography He studied at the University of Montpellier and settled around 1529 in Rodez where he served as lieutenant to the King's First Surgeon for his colleagues in the Sénéchaussée and the Diocese of Rouergue.

He was one of the doctors of Rodez called in 1586 to the bedside of Margaret of Valois, who had taken refuge in the castle of Carlat after her rupture with her family and the King of Navarre, the future Henri IV.

It was in Rodez that Bishop Georges d'Armagnac, ambassador of Francis I in Venice, suffering from dental pains called upon him. Hémard remained for ten years in the service of the Cardinal of Armagnac.

In 1582, Hémard dedicated his book Recherche de la vraye anathomie des dents, nature et propriété d'icelles (Research into the true anatomy of the teeth, their nature and properties) to the Cardinal, preceded a few months ahead by an Essay sur les dents (Essay on Teeth).