René Laennec Statue

The statue of René Laennec

The Quimper audio-guided tour presents you with the statue of René Laennec, a Quimper doctor who revolutionised modern medicine.

The inventor of the stethoscope

Born in Quimper in 1781, René Laennec had a difficult youth: orphaned of his mother at five, he was entrusted by his father to relatives, including an uncle who was a doctor in Nantes, a meeting that decided his vocation. He began his medical studies at fourteen, was received first in the general competition of medicine and surgery in 1803, and became head of department at the Necker hospital in 1816. It is there, by his sense of observation and his rigour of analysis, that he made a major discovery in the history of medicine. The statue that stands in Quimper pays tribute to this son of the city, whose name remains attached to the progress of modern medicine.

What there is to see

The statue of René Laennec pays tribute to one of the most illustrious Quimper natives, a figure of modern medicine. Along the walk, it invites one to remember this doctor born in the city, whose work marked the history of science. It is a stop of memory, which reveals a little-known aspect of the human heritage of Quimper.

Practical information

The statue of René Laennec is in the centre of Quimper. It can be contemplated freely at all hours and on the level, along the walk in the city.

Who was René Laennec?

A doctor born in Quimper in 1781, a figure of modern medicine, whose work marked the history of science.

Why a statue of Laennec in Quimper?

Because he was born there and the city thus honours one of its most famous sons and his contribution to medicine.