Our logo and its history

The logo of our Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences—also known as the School of Pharmacy—might seem surprising, featuring a man accompanied by his dog. And yet, it draws on the long history of pharmacy in Montpellier.

As early as the 13th century, the apothecaries of Montpellier took the “Oath of the Especiadors,” which included a pledge“to practice the profession well and loyally and to have preparations made in the same manner, without any adulteration, as prescribed in the Antidotaire, where the formulas are recorded.”The statutes of 1340, followed by those of 1572, regulated this profession, which remained under the control of the University of Medicine. This led to the first pharmacopoeia in France in 1574, written at the request of the apothecaries by Laurent Joubert, a professor of medicine, and the creation of a drug store in 1588 run by an apothecary who demonstrated its contents three times a year to medical students (this is the predecessor ofthe faculty’s current drug store). Upon completing his master’s degree, the master apothecary always takes an oath“to perform his duties well and faithfully and to observe the full content of our statutes and regulations.” The statutes of 1631, without fundamentally changing the organization of the profession, bear the mark of the Counter-Reformation, and it is here that the figure of Saint Roch appears as the patron saint of Montpellier’s apothecaries.

Why St. Roch?

This figure was born in Montpellier around the middle of the 14th century. Having given all his possessions to the poor, he took up the pilgrim’s staff and set out for Rome. Hence his attire: a long cloak, a wide-brimmed hat, and a staff with a water gourd. With plague epidemics raging in Italy at the time, he actively participated in the fight against the disease, which he eventually contracted. Quarantined in a forest, he managed to cure himself and survived thanks to a small dog that brought him food every day. Hence, in depictions of him, the dog (a small breed) and the visible bubo on his upper thigh. He died around 1379 (in Montpellier? Or in Voghera, more likely?) and his veneration as a patron saint invoked against the plague is attested as early as 1391 in Italy. One can understand the attachment of the people of Montpellier to this world-famous compatriot and the apothecaries’ choice of this healing saint.

The Apothecaries' Seal

Starting in 1664, he was the one who sealed the jars of theriac and other mithridates, which were prepared in public and taken to the Beaucaire Fair. Hence the vase held by Saint Roch, which bears the inscription“Nihil preciosus,” meaning “nothing more precious” than this true panacea. The apothecaries then had their own seal, a copy of which is currently used to apply the wax seal to the oath taken by new pharmacy graduates. In fact, since the 1960s, the faculty has revived the tradition of the oath that marks the awarding of the pharmacist’s degree and has chosen to bring the figure of Saint Roch back to life.

The symbol of our Faculty

In the 1960s, the faculty adopted the historic apothecaries’ seal as its logo, thereby highlighting the roots of pharmacy in Montpellier. And now it is updating the logo to look toward the future while staying true to its history.

Text by Marie-Sophie Guibert, Curator of the Albert Ciurana Pharmacy Museum.