Contribution of French ophthalmologists

In France, ophthalmology was an essential part of medicine in the Gallo‐Roman period ascertained by the oculist stamps. During the Middle‐Ages, couching of the cataractous lens was the only method and this was performed by barber‐surgeons. Ambroise Paré, a military surgeon, considered a pioneer in surgical technics, conceived an artificial eye. His followers opened the way to Daviel who initiated cataract extraction and designed the adapted instruments in the early XVIII th century, the century of surgery. The XVII th century witnessed the development of optics with Descartes. Later, Monoyer and Parinaud designed far and reading scales still used to day. Hauy and Braille took care of the education and created an alphabet for the blind. Meanwhile the introduction of the microscope allowed the description for example of Descemet membrane, Cloquet’s canal, Tenon’s capsule. In the field of retina the introduction of the ophthalmoscope, increased tremendously the level of precision in diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmologic conditions. Giraud Teulon conceived the first binocular indirect ophthalmoscope that will become popular one century later with Schepens. Bonnet‐Blanc ‐Dechaume described the arterio venous communications 6 years before Wyburn‐Mason. After Vienna and Berlin, Paris became a center of excellence in ophthalmology attracting numerous students.