Origins & Early Life

Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila (Catalan: Mateu Josep Bonaventura Orfila i Rotger) (24 April 1787 – 12 March 1853) was a Spanish born French toxicologist and chemist, regarded as father of modern toxicology. Orfila was born in Minorca and went on to study medicine in Valencia, Barcelona, and finally Paris. Orfila was appointed as the royal physician to Louis XVIII in 1816. Orfila became a professor of chemistry at the Athénée of Paris in 1817.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

In 1819 he received French citizenship, having been born a Spanish subject. In 1830 he was appointed as the dean of the faculty of medicine, and later removed in 1848 during the revolution. In 1851 he became the president of the Academy of Medicine. If there is reason to believe that a murder or attempted murder may have been committed using poison, a forensic toxicologist pharmaceutical is often engaged to examine pieces of evidence such as corpses and food items for poison content. In Orfila's time the primary type of poison in use was arsenic, but there were not any reliable ways of testing for its presence.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Orfila created new techniques, refined existing techniques and described them in his first...

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