Jean Cruveilhier was born at Limoges on February 9, 1791. He studied medicine at the University of Paris, where he became a pupil of the anatomist Guillaume Dupuytren (1777-1835), taking his degree in 1816 with a thesis titled Essai sur l'anatomie pathologique en général [Essay on pathological anatomy in general]. In 1823 he was appointed associate professor at the Montpellier Faculty of Medicine, and in 1825 he won a competition for the post of Descriptive Anatomy in Paris, which had remained vacant after the death of Pierre Béclard (1785-1825). He was the first (1836) to hold the Chair of Pathological Anatomy, created purposely in Paris by his master, Guillaume Dupuytren. Among the works of Cruveilhier we may recall in particular the volumes of the Anatomie pathologique du corps humain [Pathological anatomy in the human body] (1829-1842), embellished by precious anatomical plates, the Anatomie du système nerveux de l'homme [Anatomy of the human nervous system] (1845) and the Traité d’anatomie pathologique générale [General treatise on pathological anatomy] (1849-1864). He died at Sussac, in the vicinity of Limoges, at the age of 83.