Jacques - Arsène d'Arsonval (June 8, 1851 – December 13, 1940) was born in La Porcherie and was a French physician, physicist and inventor of the moving - coil galvanometer and probably of the thermocouple ammeter. D'Arsonval was an important contributor to the emerging field of electrophysiology, the study of the effects of electricity on biological organisms, in the nineteenth century.

In 1881, d'Arsonval proposed tapping the thermal energy of the ocean. d'Arsonval's student, Georges Claude, built the first OTEC plant in Cuba in 1930.

d'Arsonval has a phenomenon named after him. An alternating current having a frequency of 10 kilohertz or greater produces no muscular contractions and does not affect the sensory nerves. It is also called the Tesla Current.