bichat was born at thoirette in jura, france. his father was jean-baptise bichat, a physician who had trained at montpellier and was bichat's first instructor. his mother was jeanne-rose bichat, his father's wife and cousin. he entered the college of nantua, and later studied at lyon. he made rapid progress in mathematics and the physical sciences, but ultimately devoted himself to the study of anatomy and surgery under the guidance of marc-antoine petit (1766–1811), chief surgeon to the hotel-dieu at lyon.