"The truth is that I don't know why, in 1845, Alexis Tiffon, alias Napoleon, left Narbonne to settle in Barcelona. The fact is that he arrived here and, shortly after, established his artist pedicurist's office on La Rambla de Santa Mònica, which at the time was a medical profession of some prestige, considering that the medicine of the era bore little or no resemblance to today's." Bernat N. Tiffon wanted to start from that first ancestor who settled in the city one hundred and eighty-one years ago, to reconstruct the singular genealogy of doctors who, for six generations, have taken care of the health of Barcelona residents.
A story rooted in a stimulating family oral memory seasoned with anecdotes and which, at 53 years old, and after exhaustive research, this psychologist with a doctorate in Legal and Forensic Medicine wanted to put in writing in the book Saga Tiffon: from romantic surgery to forensic psychiatry and psychology (Bosch). The volume is not limited to narrating the evolution of a family, but rather, through it, reflects the enormous changes experienced between that 19th century and the current one by the medical profession and, more generally, by a Barcelona that has undergone transcendent transformations.
Romantic Surgeons in an Expanding City
The Barcelona to which the Tiffon family arrived in the mid-19th century isan oversaturated citya, with the population crowded into the few square kilometers delimited by the walls. A city on the verge of transforming into an industrial capital,marked by social conflicts and a strong repression after the Jamancia revolt and with a cultured bourgeoisie that is committed to hygienism.In that context, Alexis –renamed Alejo and without losing his nickname of Napoleon– coincided with other great names in Barcelona medicine such as the precursor of hospital psychiatry, Emili Pi Molist; the inductor of Legal Medicine and Toxicology, Pere Mata Fontanet or the remembered hygienist Pere Felip Monlau.
"A pedicurist artist was someone who dedicated themselves to the care and attention of feet, performing minor surgeries, for example, for blisters or calluses. If necessary, they could also perform major surgeries, although it is not the same concept that we can attribute now," specifies the author of the book, before adding: "Alejo Tiffon was what at the time was defined as a romance surgeon." A concept that serves to explain the enormous difference between medical practice then and now.
In the 19th century there were four types of surgeons: the Latins, who were those who had followed some type of university course; the romancistas, who had trained with masters and had passed the exam of the Royal Tribunal of the Promotomedicato; the barbers, who in addition to cutting hair and shaving, often performed small surgeries; and the bleeders, who were specialists in bloodletting and cupping.
"Alejo, his son Roque and his grandson Emilio were romance pedicurist surgeons in that context of certain professional chaos, because every time the State tried to establish some decree to regularize the medical profession, it favored some to the detriment of others, which led to protests, strikes and, from there, new regularizations that sought not to anger any guild too much," Bernat details.
Titles that are not hereditary
Roque and Emilio Tiffon followed in Alejo's footsteps and also practiced pedicurist surgery "in thatBarcelona that tore down its walls and expanded through the Eixample and the integration of towns like Gràcia or Sants,that became neighborhoods." Among the various findings that Bernat N. Tiffon has made to compose the volume that narrates the history of his family, the most satisfactory is that of thetitle of Pedicurist of the Royal Householdgranted to Roque by Alfonso XII. "Based on what was discussed in the family, I knew there was a certain type of relationship with the Royal House, so I contacted them, and they, in turn, referred me to Patrimonio Nacional, and there –he explains, unable to suppress his smile– I found the documentation."In 1882, Roque Tiffon sent a letter to Alfonso XII, explaining that he was a podiatric surgeon, residing in Barcelona, and that he provided his services free of charge to all individuals of the troop class, corporals, and sergeants, as well as to all the poor who came to his office, and thus requested "that he be granted the title of Professor Podiatric Surgeon of the Royal House with the right to display the shield with the Royal arms."
Later, his son Emilio would try to benefit from that title, "and he applied for it, thinking it was hereditary, but without success." In addition to being a podiatric surgeon, he was also a member of the Academy of Hygiene of Catalonia, an institution founded by a group of doctors concerned about the problems of social hygiene, which were pressing at the time in the most overpopulated areas of that expanding city.
Modern medicine in a turbulent scenario
Emilio's son, Santiago Tiffon Ramonet, is the figure who occupies the most pages of the book. And rightly so, because a whole book, or a movie, or a series could be dedicated to him alone. A graduate in medicine, first in his class specializing in cardiology and pneumonia–"at a time when many were dying of tuberculosis"– in Barcelona in 1919, in the midst of the effervescence of pistol-wielding gangs. A city paralyzed by the La Canadiense Strike, where the eight-hour workday was achieved for the first time and, at the same time, terrorized by the civil governor Severiano Martínez Anido who reimplemented the Law of Escapes, as an alibi to liquidate all forms of dissent.The 20th century was taking shape, and these changes were not only noticeable in social or political shifts. "Santiago, my grandfather, lived in a context of transformation of the medical profession, when, in the mid-20th century, the methodological bases of modern medicine were established. There he excelled as a cardiologist and pulmonologist." He was director of the leading Sanatorio Antituberculoso de Santa Coloma de Gramenet, promoter of the Foundation of the Clínica de Socorro Mutuo de Mollet del Vallès, where he resided, and one of the first experts in the country in nuclear medicine, "of which he became especially interested after the terrible episode of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
Saga Tiffon exclusively covers the direct family line of its author, from when it was established in Barcelona. But there is more. "I have not included the branch that was already dedicated to surgery in France, nor have I told about another non-direct branch of the family, which also includes illustrious doctors such as María Luisa Tiffon."At the same time, that avant-garde doctor witnessed very harsh historical episodes such as the Civil War, which he experienced from a dangerous rear guard, riddled with political adjustments and bombings that almost reached him, and a Second World War "from which he was spared due to his dual nationality, Spanish and French."He did not wield weapons, but instruments that, instead of taking lives, sought to save them.
From body to mind
"My father, Juan Tiffon, wasthe first in the family to dedicate himself to the mind and not the body,"explains Bernat, who dedicates several pages of his book to the memory of that neuropsychiatrist "who embraced French psychiatry, with all its rigors, which led him to work at the Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris where he coincided with Jacques Lacan and ended up directing psychiatric hospitals in Morocco which, as a French-speaking country, also adhered to the French psychiatric school."It is in this part that the bond between father and son is most strongly felt. As something more than vague memories and dinner-table anecdotes. "I always told my father that he should collect the Tiffon family memory in a book, so the volume I finally wrote, was in homage to him: the work he should have written," reflects Bernat. But this sense of continuity does not end there. "My father applied for civil service examinations as a forensic doctor, but either he didn't get the position or he gave up, I don't know." The fact is that, years later, Bernat would graduate in Psychology after which he would do his doctorate in Forensic Medicine. It is impossible not to see, there too, a further honor to the memory of a very present paternal figure.
In line with the family saga, Bernat has also excelled in his field, becoming a reference. Thus, he has lent his deep knowledge in forensic psychology and psychiatry in well-known cases such as that of Rosa Peral, that of Lluís Corominas or the triple crime of Ciutat Vella at the hands of John Musetescu Werberg, among many others.
The cultural link
Since their arrival in Barcelona, the Tiffon family has also been deeply linked to the cultural substratum of the city. "Alejo's daughter, Anaïs Tiffon, alias Anaís Napoleón, was, along with her husband Antonio Fernández Soriano,precursor of the daguerreotype in Spain".Together they founded, in 1851,the Napoleón Photographic Company, that lasted until 1968 and was one of the longest-running and pioneering photographic companies.Another aspect that links this family saga with the city's cultural world is its strong connection to the Liceu. "The first three Barcelona generations of the family witnessed the inauguration of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 1847, the first fire in 1861, and the attack in 1893. And I experienced the second fire, because I combined my high school, COU, and psychology studies with working as an extra in the theater."
Between 1987 and 1994, the year of that second fire, Bernat acted as an extra alongside luminaries such as Luciano Pavarotti, Alfredo Kraus, Plácido Domingo, and Montserrat Caballé, participating in productions such as Fedora, Samson and Delilah, Werther, Tristan and Isolde, or Elixir of Love. A dream for an incurable music lover like him.
A family affair
Saga Tiffongathers exclusively the direct family line of its author, since it was established in Barcelona. But there's more. "I have not included the branch that was already dedicated to surgery in France, nor have I counted another non-direct branch of the family, and in which there are also illustrious doctors like María Luisa Tiffon." That would make another book. Or perhaps others, in plural.– And how does the future look? Do you have descendants who show promise in the world of medicine? Or culture?
Bernat N. Tiffon laughs. "I have a son, but he is nine years old. He is still in the evolutionary phase," he replies.
It will be a matter of giving it time.