&NA;Henri Hartmann was born in Paris, June 16, 1860. He apparently developed an early interest in pursuing a medical career. Hartmann became a prosector in anatomy in 1884 at the University of Paris, graduating from the medical school in 1887. He continued on the staff of Hôtel Dieu, rising from lecturer to ultimately Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery in 1909.Hartmann was renowned for his huge clinical practice, performing over 1000 operations each year for over 20 years. He took meticulous notes of the operations and postoperative aspects of all his cases and published extensively. Most of his writings were in the area of breast, gastric, and biliary surgery. He also wrote books on gynecology, surgery of the stomach, treatment of war wounds, and cancer. However, it was for the two paragraphs that he wrote on a method of managing carcinoma of the rectum that he achieved eponymous immortality. While the operation is used uncommonly now for cancer, it is the most frequently employed resective procedure for the treatment of acute diverticular disease.Hartmann achieved international recognition, and his clinic at the Hôtel Dieu became a mecca for surgeons from all over the world. He was accorded tributes in many countries, including honorary fellowship in the American Surgical Association and the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery. He was also a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and of Ireland. In his own country he was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.He died in Paris, January 2, 1952, at the age of 91.