Louis Thomas Jerome Auzoux (1797-1880)

Born in 1797, Auzoux began experimenting with materials and methods of constructing flexible models at the age of 19. His attention was drawn to the quality of the materials used in making toy puppets sold on the streets of Paris. He succeeded in compounding a paper paste that was flexible and, when hardened, solid, supple, light, and unbreakable. The special features of Auzoux's models that made them easy to study were their ability to be taken apart and reassembled and their detailed system of anatomical markers.

Advertisement in Tokyo Ijishinshi , 26.4.1884 (Meiji 17)

In 1822 Auzoux obtained his medical degree and presented his first model to the Paris Academy of Medicine, receiving a commendation for his work. This favorable reception launched Auzoux's career as a model maker. In 1830 he introduced a model of a complete man six feet tall that contained 129 major pieces and 1115 numbered details, but that was very expensive to produce. Under pressure to reduce cost, he compromised and produced a half-sized model three-and-a-half feet tall by 1839. Auzoux's models eventually were exported to many medical schools and institutions.
(From an Exhibition in the Blocker History of Medicine Collections, Moody Medical Library, 17.3.- 4.4 1997).