Les dynamiques d’une célébrité transnationale: Théodore Tronchin et l’inoculation de l’Infant Ferdinand de Parme en 1764

The dynamics of a transnational celebrity: Théodore Tronchin and the\r\ninoculation\r\nof the Infant Ferdinand of Parma in 1764\r\nThe aim of this article is to propose a reflection on the topics of reputation,\r\nfame and celebrity in Europe during 18th century, using as a starting point\r\nthe case of the Swiss physician Théodore Tronchin (1709–1781). Born in\r\nGeneva,\r\nhe was educated in London and in Leyden as pupil of the eminent\r\nBoerhaave; at this stage of his career, he gained valuable experience in the\r\ntreatment of smallpox, especially following his inoculation of the offspring\r\nof Duke of Orleans in 1756, making him a celebrity across Europe.\r\nBeginning with the examination of the inoculation of the Infant Ferdinand\r\nof Parma (1764), the last step of his upward social mobility, we may better\r\nunderstand\r\nboth his trajectory, up to his achievement of transnational\r\ncelebrity,\r\nand the factors that facilitated it: his methods of care, inspired\r\nby Hippocratic medicine and empiricism; his sociability, in particular in the\r\nsalons of the aristocracy, where Tronchin had a close relationship with the\r\nladies\r\ndirectly involved in his curative methods, and his academic network,\r\nwhich was spread all over Europe.