Dr. Rene Maurice Gattefosse is the modern father of aromatherapy. He was a French chemist who worked in his family’s perfumery laboratory. One day when he suffered a severe burn in the lab, he quickly thrust his injured hand into a container of lavender oil & was amazed to notice the immediate decrease in pain, and subsequently observed rapid healing with no scarring. So impressed was he by this experience that he dedicated the rest of his life to researching and discovering the therapeutic properties of essential oils. He first coined the word “aromatherapy” and published a book by that name in 1937.
Dr.Jean Valnet, a French medical doctor, was greatly influenced by Gattafosse’s work. During the Second World War, he experienced success treating war injuries with antiseptic essential oil solutions. In 1964, he published a book called Aromatherapy Treatments of Illnesses by the essence of Plants, and he is responsible for training over 1000 French physicians currently using essentials oils in their practice. Essential oils have been accepted as a valid therapy in France.
Numerous experiments have proven the antiseptic qualities of essential oils (i.e., thyme is eight times more powerful than phenol). Russian researchers have verified the stimulation of liver digestive processes by rose oil. Italian researchers have verified the psychological effects of essential oil.
One of Dr. Valnet’s students, Margarite Mallory, further developed the modern use of essential oils in massage therapy and skin care in England.
Today’s advances in essential oils & aromatherapy are a result of the hard work done by these three people.
