France (1963 SG1601) Jacques Daviel

Jacques Daviel was born in Normandy of France. He completed his medical training in Rouen. Before becoming 
an ophthalmologist, he was a physician and was active in the treatment of plaque which was endemic in Provence. 
He was often regarded as the father of modern ophthalmology because of his invention of cataract extraction. 
Before him, the traditional methods of curing a cataract involved displacement of the lens into the vitreous cavity, 
thus clearing the visual axis. In the technique, the sclera was perforated with a sharp instrument and a blunt 
instrument was inserted through the scleral incision and the cataractous lens was pushed backward.  His method 
involved for the first time removal of the lens through a corneal incision. He perfected his surgery on the cadavar 
and carried out the technique on 206 patients in 1752 out of which 182 was reported to be successful.
 
He died in Geneva at the age of 69 from cerebral haemorrhage.