Barthez, Paul Joseph (1734–1806)

French physician and leading practitioner of vitalistic medicine. Barthez was born in Montpellier, where he studied and qualified as a doctor, later becoming professor (1759) and chancellor of the university (1785). His main work, Nouveaux elements de la science de l'homme/New Elements in the Study of the Human Body, was published in 1778. He was appointed physician to Napoleon in 1802.