GOODBYE, PATRON

Professor Joseph Letenneur passed away on August 14, 2025, at the age of 83. He leaves his patients, his students, and all those who knew him with the memory of a demanding, kind, and profoundly humane mentor.

Born in Nantes on September 11, 1941, and from an old Nantes family, he remained deeply attached to his city throughout his life. This “true Nantais” completed all his medical training at the Faculty of Medicine of Nantes. A medical externship in 1965 and an internship in 1967, he quickly specialized in orthopedic surgery. As a laureate of the Faculty in 1972, he also pursued an academic career: first as Anatomy Instructor and Assistant, then as Chief Resident and University Assistant. In 1978, he was appointed Associate Professor, and in 1984, Full Professor. In 1987, he became Head of the Traumatology Department at Hôtel-Dieu, a position he held until his retirement in 2009.

He devoted his career to lower limb surgery, particularly the hip and, above all, the knee. His expertise was recognized in ligament and meniscal pathologies, as well as in treating the consequences of hemophilic arthropathy. His name will remain associated with this surgical school, appreciated both by his students and the many high-level athletes he helped return to the field.

But reducing Joseph Letenneur to his academic career alone would be far too little. We called him respectfully, affectionately, and almost proudly, “Patron.” Patron was more than a nickname, he personified the spirit of a family, the Traumatology Department at Nantes University Hospital, which he united around his exceptional personality and leadership.
His department was a place where one learned not only surgical precision but also intellectual rigor, the importance of the right word, responsibility, and respect for others. Appreciated by medical, administrative, and paramedical staff as well as by his students and residents, he knew how to bring out the best in everyone.

His teaching went far beyond surgical technique. Through his benevolent rigor, clear pedagogy, love of good work, and humility, he left a lasting mark on a whole generation of orthopedic surgeons in the region who had the privilege of learning from him. His students were not just collaborators, they became members of a close-knit community united by strong values. He maintained close ties with those he had guided, even after their hospital training, when they began private practice. The meeting joining private surgeons–public surgeon hospital in dedicated staffs he established still exist today.

His intellectual rigor was matched by immense humanity. He had a rare elegance in his gestures, in his words, and in his way of being. Deeply attached to the French language, he paid as much attention to the precision and care of written words as to the precision of surgical gestures.

Beyond the surgeon and teacher, Joseph Letenneur was a man faithful to his values, profoundly attached to the simple pleasures of life and to nature. He found in these moments of authenticity a precious balance. Many remember his ritual of mushroom picking in the forests of his beloved Corrèze during the All Saints’ holidays, which he would recount with a blend of rigor, humor, and tenderness.

An exceptional surgeon, an outstanding teacher, a profoundly honest and faithful man, Joseph Letenneur trained an entire generation of orthopedic surgeons. Beyond his department, he brought together friends and colleagues from university hospitals throughout western France, offering the Société Orthopédique de l’Ouest (SOO) some of its finest moments and fostering rich exchanges with the Société Française de Chirurgie Orthopédique et Traumatologique (SOFCOT).

To his wife and four children, we extend our deepest condolences and our profound gratitude for having shared this exceptional man with us.


Rest in peace, Patron. May God welcome you into His light, Jo!. Your spirit continues to live on in the great family of your students.

Dr. J-M. Philippeau
Dr. P. Le Couteur
Dr. D. Huguet