Soigner et aider ses proches dans la maladie : la patientèle d’Étienne François Geoffroy au début du XVIIIe siècle

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, the meditatization of the doctor-patient relationship as well as family and community management of illnesses were common practices. The presence of relatives, both lay and professional, and their cooperation with the doctor are particularly visible in cases where requests for remote consultation were sent by letter. This article examines the ways in which relatives intervened—actively and passively—and the effects their presence and actions had on consultations by using the correspondence sent and received by Étienne François Geoffroy, a Parisian doctor who practised between 1712 and 1730, as a case study.