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What was Claude Bernardâs family background in Saint-Julien, France?
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Claude Bernard
Claude Bernard, detail of a lithograph by A. Laemlein, 1858.
Claude Bernard was born in Saint-Julien, France, into a family that struggled financially. His father, Pierre, was a winegrower who later attempted to support the family by teaching school after a failed wine-marketing venture. His mother, Jeanne Saulnier, came from a peasant background. Despite his father's efforts, the family never achieved prosperity, and upon his father's death, the survivors were left in debt.1