Neonatology on the Web

Dr. Alexandre Lion

www.neonatology.net

Dr. Alexandre Lion

A Short Biography of Alexandre Lion
by Drs. Thijs Gras, Amsterdam
September, 2022, with updates from correspondence in November 2025.

Alexandre Léon Lion was a French inventor. He was born on the 11th of April 1861 in the village of Solliès-Pont (départment Var), son of the farmer Louis Alfred Anselme Lion (1833-1912) and Marie Claire Lion-Gence (1831-1907). It is not known where he received his education.

In 1889 Lion invented an egg incubator for 5000 eggs, including a sophisticated system to keep a stable temperature inside. He put it on display in a pavilion in Marseille and for a small entrance fee people could see chicks hatching.

In 1890 Lion developed a smaller version of this incubator, especially for infants. In May 1890 he received his first prematurely born baby, thus expanding the exhibit with a living human child. The show was a success and in 1891 he expanded his business to Nice, where he founded a charity organization called “Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants.”

Until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Lion was very active in propagating his incubator. He founded institutes in other cities in France (his most famous was the institute located on the Boulevard Poissonnière 26 in Paris) and abroad (for example, in Barcelona). Furthermore, he installed incubator pavilions on numerous national and international exhibitions in France and elsewhere in Europe.

These shows were set up according to a (by Lion) proven format. Via entrance fees, the visiting public paid for the costs made to care for the children. The more people came, the more income and the more went to the exploiter. Thus, Lion inspired others to do the same. Following his example, numerous entrepreneurs set up incubator institutes and pavilions on exhibitions. Martin Couney (1869-1950) is one of the most renowned. He set up incubator pavilions on exhibitions and attraction parks in the USA and was active in this business till 1943.

From the stories found in newspapers of that period, it appears that Lion’s financial status was often perilous. There are press mentions of bankruptcy proceedings in 1899, 1901, 1902, and 1903. Many of the bankruptcies are during the early months in their respective years, so that it may be that the majority of Lion’s income was from his exhibits in the world expositions, which mostly occur in the fall, and after they closed he ran short of money. His institute on Boulevard Poissonière moved to 23, Avenue Daumesnil and shortly after 5 Rue Cart in Saint-Mandé,. Perhaps the rent on Boulevard Poissonière was more than he could sustain.

During WW I, Lion fades away in the mist of history, concentrating on other inventions like a water philtre (1928). His last known incubator exhibit in a world exposition was at Lyon in 1914, which opened just before the war broke out. He was married to Armandine Barrier and, as far as known, the couple had no children. Alexandre Lion died, 73 years old, on the 22nd of August 1934 in a hospital in Marseille. In his death certificate he is referred to as “a wandering salesman” (“marchand ambulant”).

(For more information about Alexandre Lion, see: “Alexandre Lion: The Forgotten Inventor of Incubator Shows,” by Drs. Thijs Gras, MA, RN. Pediatrics 150(3):e2021054576 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-054576)

Above: Five of the Lion Incubators in use, circa 1896, in Lion’s institute for the care of premature babies in Paris, France. Dr. Lion is standing by the end incubator. Image used by permission of Wellcome Library, London.

Last Updated on 01/28/26