[French military pharmacists during campaign in Tunisia (1881-1887): Paul-Louis Roeser and Carle Gessard, and others].

The military campaign in Tunisia, conducted by the French army from 1881, under the respective governments of Jules Ferry and Gambetta, induced the presence of military pharmacists; especially two friends: P.-L. Roeser and C. Gessard, both trained at Val-de-Grace hospital in Paris. The present paper reviews the military pharmacists that were part of this campaign in 1881 and 1882, and looks at their biography. These pharmacists prefigure what will be the so called "pharmacien-chimiste" of the French army and the pharmacists of the "Corps de Santé special aux Colonies et aux pays du Protectorat" (Special healthcare troups for colonies and Protectorats), for which specific statuts will appear a few years later.