Jean-Baptiste Sue (433)

Jean-Joseph Sue Jr. (28 January 1760—21 April 1830) was a physician, surgeon and Member of the American Philosophical Society elected in 1785. Born into a family of anatomists, Sue received his Master of Surgery from the University of Paris and an M.D. from the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh.  Mirroring the career of his father, Sue took a position at the Hôpital de la Charité and later became a professor of anatomy at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris.  Sue became a renowned expert on anatomy and used his influence to speak out against the use of the Guillotine after the execution of Charlotte Corday in 1793. He unsuccessfully argued that the head could perceive pain after dismemberment, making the act of beheading unacceptable.  Sue continued his medical service through the revolution and into the Bonaparte period, eventually being knighted by Napoleon.  He was married three times and had five children, including Eugène Sue who would become a prominent novelist in France.  His father, Jean-Joseph Sue Sr. was an APS Member.