Mathieu Orfila

Mathieu Orfila
Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila
Born	24 April 1787 Mahon, Minorca Kingdom of Spain
Died	12 March 1853 (aged 65) Paris, Île-de-France French Empire
Citizenship	French
Nationality	Spanish
Fields	Toxicology and chemistry
Alma mater	University of Valencia University of Barcelona
Known for	Founded toxicology
Influences	Louis Nicolas Vauquelin

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, the founder of the science of toxicology.

Role in Forensic Toxicology

If there is reason to believe that a murder or attempted murder may have been committed using poison, a forensic toxicologist is often brought in 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 no reliable ways of testing for its presence. Orfila created new techniques and refined existing techniques in his first treatise, Traité des poisons, greatly enhancing their accuracy.

In 1840, Marie LaFarge was tried for the murder of her husband using arsenic. Mysteriously, although arsenic was available to the killer and was found in the food, none could be found in the body. Orfila was asked by the court to investigate. He discovered that the test used, the Marsh Test, had been performed incorrectly, and that there was in fact arsenic in the body, allowing LaFarge to be found guilty.

References

General

• J. R. Bertomeu-Sánchez, A. Nieto-Galan (2006). Chemistry, medicine and crime: Mateu J B Orfila (1787–1853) and his times. Sagamore Beach, MA: Science History Publications. pp. 311. ISBN 0-88135-275-6. http://www.shpusa.com/books/chapters/Orfila.pdf. 

External links

• Forensic Toxicology, how it solves cases and the major cases it solved
• Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire de Médecine de Paris: Books, biography and studies on Orfila

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Persondata
Name	Orfila, Matthieu Joseph Bonaventure
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 April 1787
Place of birth	Mahon, Minorca Kingdom of Spain
Date of death	12 March 1853
Place of death	Paris, Île-de-France French Empire