ECHOS
La Quotidienne

An invitation, formulated by Professor Variot, with the cordiality and affability that are particular to this great scholar, brought us, the other morning, to the "Goutte de Lait de Belleville". The master of childcare wanted to allow us to admire the paintings of the painter Jean Geoffroy, which decorate this establishment. When the artist died, two months ago, we said. in this same place, the interest and value of his work.

Geoffroy was the painter of children; the anecdotal paintings, in which he included them, always obtained, at the Salon, a lively success with the general public, an excellent judge in matters of art, because he does not sacrifice to snobbery or fashion, and only lets himself be attracted by what pleases him; so he did not fail to notice Geoffroy's paintings; They piqued his curiosity and held his attention by the spirit of the composition and the emotion that emerged from the scene depicted. Who does not know the famous Visit to the Hospital, at the Luxembourg Museum, where we see a worker at the bedside of his sick child? Unless you are closed to any feeling of compassion, you cannot see this famous painting without being overwhelmed with pity, so much does it express the tragic character of human pain, in its noblest and most poignant form.

The largest composition painted by Jean Geoffroy is a triptych, the three parts of which represent scenes seen daily at the Goutte de Lait in Belleville: on the left, the weighing of infants; on the right, the distribution of milk; in the center, the examination of the children, presented by their mothers, and presided over by Doctor Variot, founding president of the establishment that this master had the initiative and merit of creating thirty-three years ago, and that he continues to direct, with admirable awareness, authority and dedication.

To paint children, as Geoffroy did, it was necessary to understand them to the point of expressing, through drawing and color, the moving poetry of their soul, their face and their gestures. To care for them, with the tenderness and self-denial shown by Doctor Variot, it is necessary to love them deeply. With what gentleness this renowned specialist examines them, with what kindness he questions the mothers, with what delicacy he calms their anxiety, with what generosity he comforts them, with what tact he advises them, with what patience he listens to their confession, often painful!

It is necessary to have attended one of these consultations to know the treasures of kindness that can be provided, at the same time as the riches of his science, by an eminent doctor who is, at the same time, a man of heart, sensitive and compassionate!

La Goutte de Lait de Belleville » has provided, for thirty years and more, the demonstration of what private charity can do, without official support or assistance, when it is guided and directed by a scholar combining authority with competence, and for whom philanthropy is not a means of achieving the fruitful situations or honors that more often reward interpersonal skills and skill than true merit and sincere devotion.

The only reward that Professor Variot aspires to is to preserve as many human lives as possible and to lower the average mortality rate in his services even further. He considers himself amply rewarded for his efforts, since this average, which is almost 10% elsewhere, has now fallen to 3.07% among the thousand children who are presented annually for consultations at the "Goutte de Lait de Belleville". If there is no better reward for Doctor Variot, there is no more eloquent testimony in favor of his work and of the man who directs it!

PAUL MATHIEX.