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Andreas Vesalius

Italian naturalist
Country: Italy

Content:
  1. Biography of Andreas Vesalius
  2. Main Scientific Works

Biography of Andreas Vesalius

Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) was an Italian naturalist and anatomist. He was born on December 31, 1514 (or January 1, 1515) in Brussels, Belgium. Vesalius studied medicine in Brussels, Leuven, and Paris. In 1537, he obtained a bachelor's degree in medicine from Leuven and in the same year, he received his doctorate in medicine from Padua. From 1539, he served as a professor at the University of Padua.

Main Scientific Works

Vesalius' main scientific works were dedicated to human anatomy. In 1538, the scholar published the "Anatomical Tables" – six sheets of engravings created by Stephan van Calcar, a student of Titian. In these tables, Vesalius clarified and expanded the anatomical terminology, illustrating new information about the human body. Convinced that many anatomical texts by Galen, a renowned Roman physician (c. 130–200 AD), were based on animal dissections and therefore did not accurately reflect human anatomy, Vesalius decided to undertake experimental studies on the human body. The result was the treatise "On the Fabric of the Human Body" (De humani corporis fabrica, 1543).

In 1543, Vesalius became the court physician of Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, gaining an extensive private practice and a high reputation. After Charles V abdicated in 1556, Vesalius joined the service of his son, Philip II, the King of Spain. Following the death of Gabriel Fallopius, who held the chair of anatomy at Padua, Vesalius decided to return to his research work. Under the pretext of illness and a desire to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he obtained permission for a leave of absence. In May 1564, Vesalius regained his former chair and embarked on a journey to Jerusalem before the start of the new semester. However, on the return journey, the ship on which Vesalius was traveling was shipwrecked and washed ashore on the island of Zakynthos. Vesalius passed away on the island in June 1564.