James Ernest Heesom (1839-1927): A Yorkshire Dentist in Paris

ISBN-13: 9781495330575 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 122 str.

Nicolette Reichhold

Opis

Based on the memoirs of my great-grandfather and the recollections of his son, this book gives a first-hand account of the life of a British dentist and his family in late 19th century Paris, with its excitement and political upheaval. James Heesom was an assistant to the famous American dentist, Thomas Wiltberger Evans, the first American to be awarded the Legion d'Honneur, whose patients included most of the crowned heads of Europe. Accompanying his employer, James visited the Tuileries to fit a plate for Napoleon III, also travelling to Russia to attend to the teeth of the Tsar. When Thomas Evans's practice split, James moved to the surgery of John d'Oyley-Evans. A would-be French aristocrat with a title that he had bought from the Pope, John travelled around Paris in a nobleman's carriage, together with two footmen in full livery. During the time that he worked for the Evans family, James met many people, from the latest mistress of the Emperor Napoleon III to politicians, aristocrats and the American nouveau riche, the least favourite of his patients. Outside his working life, he mentions his early years in Paris, when he visited student restaurants and dance-halls and appeared on stage in a walk-on role in a Paris opera. He was also a witness to the war-fever that seized Paris in 1870 and the aftermath of the siege. The recollections of James's son, Edwin are of a domestic nature, for example, he recalls his father's unsuccessful attempt to teach a patissier how to make hot cross buns. He also remembers some of the apartments they lived in, such as a house in rue Billault with the ateliers of several French and American artists.