[Claude-Nicolas Le Cat (1700-1768), a famous surgeon and urologist of the 18th century].

Le Cat was a famous surgeon in France in the 18th Century, at a time when surgery was recognised as a separate specialty and the search for clinicopathological correlations was being developed. Le Cat was born in Picardy and studied anatomy and surgery in Paris. He was appointed surgeon to the Archbishop of Rouen in 1726, then head surgeon at Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Rouen. He performed two major operations: lithotomy for bladder stones and cataract surgery. He developed an instrument for lithotomy, the Gorgeret cystotome. His reputation in France and Europe is reflected by his numerous academy prizes, publications, and surgical notoriety.