[François Humbert, an unknown orthopedist, initiator of cures for the "lame"]

François Humbert (1776-1850) created in 1817 the first French orthopaedic institution, at a great turning point in orthopedics. Interested in "lame people" and "hunchbacks", he treated congenital hip dislocation and scoliosis, for about 30 years. Humbert's medical practice illustrated very well the deep transformation which occured in orthopedics at the beginning of the 19th century. As testimonies of Humbert's work, there are the books he published, his Memoirs, some buildings of his institution which have been reconverted into houses, but above all thirty-eight models of his "machines". In spite of the fact that he was the first to consider congenital hip dislocation like a curable disease, his work quickly became unknown after his death.