The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Ricord, Philippe

RICORD, rē-kôr, Philippe, French physician: b. Baltimore, Md., 10 Dec 1800; d. Paris, France, 22 Oct. 1889. He went to Paris in 1820, where he was granted his medical degree in 1826, practised in the provinces for two years, and on his return to Paris passed the Concours examination, and was appointed a surgeon at the Pitié Hospital. In 1831 his lectures in surgery secured his appointment as surgeon-in-chief at Hôpital des Veneriens du Midi, an office he continued to fill until 1860, when he resigned and engaged in private practice. In 1862 he was appointed physician in ordinary to Prince Napoleon, and in 1869 consulting surgeon to Napoleon III. He was made commander of the Legion of Honor in 1860, and for his services in the ambulance corps during the siege of Paris was made grand-officer of the Legion in 1871. He was the author of various valuable surgical treatises and invented several surgical instruments.