René Quinton

Quinton was born on 15 December 1866, in Chaumes-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne) France. His father, Paul Edouart Quinton was a medical doctor. His mother, Marie Pauline Elisabeth Amyot, had no profession.[1] He attended secondary school at the Collège Chaptal, in Paris.[2]

As a young adult, Quinton was interested in literature; he read and wrote poetry and started writing a novel. He was influenced by Flaubert’s work and his writing endeavors were described as perfectionist and meticulous by his friends. According to his friend Armand Charpentier, Quinton's wealthy situation allowed him to spend a lot of time in the pursuit of writing perfection, but after 10 years of writing, and not completing any project, his interests turned to biology.[2][3]

He decided to enter the Collège de France as an assistant at the Laboratoire de Physiologie pathologique.[4] His passion lay in the study of the origins of life: for Quinton, the sea was the matrix of life, a theory on which he would base the remainder of his career in biology.[3]

Quinton also had an interest in aviation. At the Collège de France, he met French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey, who was working on the study of flight, and rapidly became his disciple and friend.[2]

Quinton's interest in the origins of life and seawater as the matrix of life led him to theorize his Loi de constance and to create sérum de Quinton.

Sérum de Quinton

M. René Quinton and Louis Barthou Issy-les-Moulineaux, September 7th, 1908

Quinton's theories led him to conclude “that Seawater is the "vital liquid" of all living beings and the means of curing all kinds of disease”.[9] He imagined subcutaneous seawater injections as a therapeutic treatment.[10]

In 1907, Quinton patented the sérum de Quinton (Quinton serum). He described it as seawater harvested from the Atlantic, in specific areas where he considered the water “pure” and with special precautions. The harvest was then immediately transported to Paris where it was sterilized without boiling or chemical products, brought to a specific saline concentration, and stored in vials. With this patented technique, the serum was comparable, according to Quinton, to blood. As such, it could be used to treat the following conditions: enteritis, constipation, diarrhea, colitis, newborn gastroenteritis, lactose intolerance, athrepsia, and skin conditions. It was also presented as a prenatal treatment to prevent the future baby(ies) from developing tuberculosis, syphilis or malaria, and to help expecting mothers with nausea.[11]

He proceeded to open and fund Parisian dispensaries, reserved for destitute patients, to treat, at no charge, these conditions.[9]

These treatments were reported, at the time, to be very successful and with no side effects.[9] However, they have since been abandoned by medicine and removed from the Vidal dictionary, the French dictionary that catalogs medications and dietary supplements. Today, Quinton serum continues to be sold by Quinton Laboratory as personal and hygiene products, not medicine, in the form of drinkable vials or nasal sprays.[12]

Another area of interest for René Quinton was aviation.

In 1908, inspired by other countries offering rewards to creators of aircraft, as well as France's success in ballooning, René Quinton, along with Archdeacon and others, founded the Ligue Nationale Aérienne, of which he was president. His goal was to set up a yearly subscription that would generate enough money to offer a prize to the first French creator to invent an ideal aircraft.[15][16] The league's role was to encourage and promote enthusiasm for aviation, with the hope that France would become a leader in the field.[17] Quinton also lobbied for the development of aircraft as an important way to spot injured soldiers and bring them to safety for care.[18]

Quinton was president of the league for 4 years after which he left for the war. When he returned, Quinton drew back from this project, focusing on sérum de Quinton instead. He facilitated the fusion of his league with l’Association Genérale Aéronautique and the Comité National de l’Aviation Militaire; these 3 societies combined to form the Ligue Aéronautique de France, with General Bailly as president, and Reymond and Quinton as vice-presidents.[19]

A meeting took place in Biskra, where several aviators presented their creations. A second meeting was planned, but Quinton died unexpectedly before then.[20]

When World War I broke out, Quinton was not required to go to combat due to his age. Nonetheless, according to Georges Houard, Quinton's strong patriotism and love of France compelled him to go to war.[21]

At the beginning of the war, in 1914, he fought as capitaine d'artillerie de réserve. Throughout the war, his fellows and superiors described him as brave, composed and eager; Foch wrote the following about Quinton: “Officer of the rarest intrepidity, for whom it is impossible to resume the acts of bravery. Continues to show the best example of composure, energy and drive.” He rose through the ranks to end the war as Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur, with multiple decorations.[22]

Battlefronts

René Quinton fought on the following battlefronts during World War I:[22]

Year	Date(s)	Location(s)
1914	30 August	Amiens
1914	28 September to 4 October	Courcelles-le-Comte, Achiet, Bucquoy-les-Essarts
1914	5 to 11 October	Hannescamps, Bienvilliers-au-Bois
1914	13 to 22 October	Ronsart, Mouchy-au-Bois
1914	23 October to 2 November	Wailly
1914	7 November to 31 December	Nieuport, Lombardzyde
1915	1 January to 31 December	Nieuport
1916	1 January to 30 May	Around Nieuport
1916	6 June to 2 November	Somme (Suzanne, Curlus, Maurepas, Rancourt, Sailly-Saillisel)
1917	10 to 18 March	Roye-Lassigny, Beuvraignes, Roiglise, Champien, Solente, Ercheu
1917	April	Moronvilliers, Mont-sans-Nom, Téton
1917	10 July to 3 September	Mort-Homme, Cote 304
1917	6 to 15 September	Champagne (Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand)
1917	28 September to 1 November	Malmaison
1918	18 February to 17 March	Trigny
1918	17 to 27 March	Reims
1918	4 to 27 April	Montdidier
1918	24 May to 30 June	Fort Saint-Thierry, Gueux, Chamery
1918	17 July to 6 August	Sud de Soissons
1918	8 to 24 August	massif de Thiescourt
1918	23 September to 13 October	Navarin, Somme-Py, Saint-Etienne au Temple
1918	29 October to 8 November	Coulommes, Attigny, Mézières

Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 with 5 palms

Loches-sur-Ource, Rue Quinton

Quinton passed away unexpectedly on 9 July 1925, from a sudden onset heart condition; he was 58 years old.[1]

On his deathbed, he identified as a soldier: he told his comrades, while saying his final goodbyes, “and that is why I insisted to die in my soldier’s garments”.[23] He was with his cousin Lucien Corpechot when he passed.[3]

He was buried in his family vault in Loches-sur-Ource (Aube).[1]

A statue commemorating Quinton was erected in his birth town of Chaumes-en-Brie in 1931. It featured a bronze statue sculpted by Paul Dardé. However, in 1941, the statue was removed and melted by the German army. Today, only the base of the statue remains and can be seen in its original location in the Champ de foire of Chaumes-en-Brie.[24]

During his lifetime, Quinton published his findings in biology in the following book, which is currently published as a historical heritage book, as the contents are considered out of date: L'eau de mer milieu organique: constance du milieu marin originel, comme milieu vital des cellules (1904).

Some of his written words were also compiled in the following book about war: Maximes sur la guerre (1930).[8]