Germanicus Mirault was born in Angers on either 29 February or 1 March 1796 (1796 was a leap year).[1][2][3] His father and grandfather were also surgeons, with his father specialising in ophthalmology.[2]
Mirault first began studying medicine under his father in 1814.[2] Moving to Paris to continue his studies, he presented his thesis in 1823 on keratitis.[2][4]
Together with Joseph-François Malgaigne, Mirault introduced flap transposition for cleft-lip closure.[5][6] In 1935, this work was championed by Victor Veau, who stated "Mirault is the genius of cleft lip surgery".[7] He made other key contributions to maxillofacial surgical procedures, including the first ligature of a human lingual artery in 1833 and pioneering a method of temporary occlusion of the eyelids when correcting a post-burn ectropion, which is still in use today.[1][8]
^ abcDupoirieux, L; Penneau, M (1996). "The contribution of Germanicus Mirault to maxillofacial surgery in general and to surgery of the cleft lip in particular". Revue de Stomatologie et de Chirurgie Maxillo-faciale. 97 (4): 195–201. PMID8927924.
^Mirault, Germanicus & Faculté de médecine de Paris (1823). Dissertation sur l'anatomie et l'inflammation de la cornée transparente. Paris, France: Imprimerie de Didot le Jeune.
^Millard Jr, Ralph (1976). Cleft Craft: the Evolution of its Surgery; vol 1. Boston, MA, USA: Little, Brown & Co.
^Mirault G. Deux lettres sur l'operation du bec-delievre. J Chir. 1844;2:257.
^Veau V. Bec de Lievre. Hypothese sur la malformation initiale. Ann Anat Pathol Paris. 1935;12:389.
^Mirault, Germanicus (1871). De l'occlusion chirurgicale temporaire des paupières dans le traitement de l'ectropion cicatriciel [Texte imprimé]. Paris, France: Imprimerie de P. Lachèse, Belleuvre et Dolbeau.