[An underestimated forerunner: Marc-Jacob D'Espine (1806-1860) and medical statistics]

This article relates the life and work of Marc-Jacob D'Espine, a disciple of P.C.A. Louis and a somewhat unrecognised predecessor of medical statistics. Many extracts of his unpublished correspondence are given. After a short biography, the scientific work of D'Espine as well as his action to diffuse his ideas--in Switzerland as well as in foreign countries--are discussed.