Dr. Oscar Amoëdo y Valdes (1863-1945), Founding Father of Forensic Odontology

Abstract

On May 4^th 1897, 124 people died in the fire of the Bazar de la Charité because of a mishandling of the projectionist’s equipment (using a system of ether and oxygen rather than electricity) which caught fire^[1]. Many of the victims were aristocratic women, the most notable of whom was the Duchess of Alençon, Sophie Charlotte of Bavaria, sister of the famous Empress of Austria Sissi. Her body was identified thanks to her teeth. 5 dentists worked on the dead bodies for identifying them. The practitioners’ work was reported by Pr Oscar Amoëdo y Valdes.

[1] Georget Charles, Fronty Pierre & Sapanet Michel, L’identification comparative, in Les cahiers d’Odontologie médico-légale, Atlantique (éd.), Poitiers, 2001, pp. 9-20.