1811 - 1870
Belgian by birth but worked in Holland and France
Charles Joseph Phillips (1811 - 1870) was born in Liège in Belgium on 20 April 1811. He studied medicine in Liège but later settled in Paris where he soon became a well known urologist.
He improved the filiform urethral bougie by adding a screw thread so dilators and catheters could be attached and negotiated through strictures. Phillips’ Whips are still in use today.
A talented medical artist he illustrated his famous textbook, “Traité des Maladies des Voise Urinaires”.
Phillips had an interesting life in that he had three consecutive nationalities. In 1795, the Principality of Liège was attached to the first French Republic (1795-1815) then it became part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1830), before finally becoming part of Belgium. Thus, Charles Phillips was successively French, Dutch, and Belgian.
Phillips died in Paris, on 19 December 1870, of endocarditis secondary to rheumatic fever.
Books by Charles Phillips
Charles Phillips's Textbook
“Traité des Maladies des Voies Urinaires" 1860, Paris
This volume is not currently in print or available
Papers and articles about Charles Phillips
Charles Phillips (1811-1870): un célèbre urologue liégeois, pourtant inconnu chez nous
Rev Med Liege 2008; 63: 504-507
Download the original article (as a PDF) or Download an English translation
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