French physician and anatomist, who contributed over 90 publications on anatomy, anthropology, prehistory and history, but whose most noteworthy achievement was as the author of “Traité d´anatomie humaine” a complete, well-written, and well-illustrated work of anatomy composed of four volumes that continues to be used in many countries to the present day. The illustrations present in this book continue to be a major source of reference to other anatomy books. The book is well-known in medical schools where it is considered the standard anatomy textbook. He collected the material published from personal notes and drawings after having failed anatomy exams several times during medical school, until he finally passed.
In 1889, Léo Testut announced that a prehistoric skull, found in Chancelade, was of a new race, which he called the “Chancelade race”, which he argued was the ancestor of the Eskimo. This hypothesis, though confirmed by many of his contemporaries, is now rejected, and the Chancelade skull is considered to be a Cro-Magnon.
He died on 16 January 1925, aged 75, in Bordeaux.
Link to Wikipedia biography