And Vesalius. Biography of Andrew Vesalius

The name of the doctor Andreas Vesalius became famous during the Middle Ages. Already at that time he became famous thanks to his written description of the surgical treatment of tracheostomy. The first experiment was carried out by him on an animal that was given artificial ventilation. Andreas first studied the structure and features of the human body through dissection. So our contemporaries consider him the founder of anatomy, and almost all further teachings were based on his discoveries. And it’s not a sin for us to remember who Andreas Vesalius was in his time, to remember the contribution to medicine of an outstanding scientist, because his merits could not go unnoticed already in his time.

Andreas Vesalius was born into a family in which several generations of his relatives were doctors. There were many outstanding scientists in the Wieting family: Emperor Maximilian appointed his great-great-grandfather Peter as his doctor, his great-grandfather was a famous doctor and worked in Brussels. Andreas's grandfather, also a doctor, is the author of additions to the Hippocratic collection, and also first announced the procedure for vaccination against smallpox. It was he who wrote the works on the study of smallpox and measles. Andreas Vesalius the elder, the father, was an apothecary to Princess Margaret, who was the ruler of the Netherlands. There was also a younger brother in Andreas's family, who took up medicine from a young age. It is not surprising that the medical profession could not escape Andreas himself: after so many generations who devoted themselves to the study of medicine, he considered it necessary to make his contribution to its further development.

Andreas Vesalius - biography (briefly):

Andreas was born in 1514 on December 31st. From a young age, he listened with enthusiasm as his mother read treatises and works on medicine to him. By the age of 16, Andreas had a classical education, which he received in Brussels. After this, in 1530, his studies began at the University of Louvain. This is an institution of higher education that was founded by Johann IV of Brabant. At the university, special attention was paid to the study of ancient languages, because they are the ones needed for successful advancement in medicine.

Considering the level of teaching not high enough, Vesalius changed his place of study in 1531 and continued it at the Pedagogical College. There he managed to master Greek, Arabic and Latin quite well. The young student showed a penchant for anatomical research quite early. He devoted his free hours from studying to dissecting animal corpses and dissecting them. This hobby did not go unnoticed by the court physician Nikolai Floren, who, by and large, determined the future fate of the young man, sending him to study at the Paris Medical University. As a token of gratitude for his parting words, Andreas dedicated a work to Floren entitled “Epistle on Bloodletting” and began to call him his second father.

From 1533, Andreas continued his medical studies in Paris. For four years, he listened to lectures by prominent doctors, in particular Silvius, who thoroughly explored the structure of the vena cava of the human body, the structure of the peritoneum, studied the appendix, revealed the structure of the liver and much more. In addition to anatomy and surgery, Vesalius studied with the then famous Swiss physician Gunther. It was with him that Andreas began a very warm, friendly and mentoring relationship.

In 1536, Vesalius again came to Louvain and continued his medical practice, in which he was supported by his friend Gemma Frizius. Together, they secretly stole the corpses of executed criminals from the cemetery (such autopsies were strictly prohibited at that time for religious reasons and the canons of the church). With great risk, but with strong self-confidence, the young physician moved forward in his research.

In 1537, Vesalius was awarded a doctorate and a diploma with honors. After a public autopsy was carried out in the Senate of the Venetian Republic (where Andreas already lived at that time), he was officially appointed professor of the Department of Surgery. There he remains, at the same time becoming a teacher of anatomy. Thus, already at the age of 23, he became an outstanding professor, and his fascinating lectures attracted all students.

In 1545, Andreas moved to the University of Pisa, but six years later he became a professor at the University of Rome, where he worked until the end of his life.

Vesalius was heavily persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition, who accused him of murdering a man under the guise of allegedly dissecting the corpse of an executed criminal. He was sentenced to death, but this measure was abolished thanks to the intervention of Philip II.

Instead, as a sign of punishment, Vesalius went on a pilgrimage to Palestine, where the Holy Sepulcher is located. The difficult journey ended in an unsuccessful return and the wreck of the ship on which the great scientist was located. Finding himself on a desert island, Andreas Vesalius fell ill, was left without hope of salvation and died at the age of 50 on October 2, 1564.

Contributions of Andreas Vesalius to medicine

In 1543, the famous work of Andreas Vesalius “On the Structure of the Human Body” was published. It contained not just text, but rather demonstrative pictures and indications of mistakes made by another scientist, Galen, famous at that time. More than 200 bugs have been fixed. After this treatise, the latter's authority suffered seriously. It was this work that laid the foundation for the modern science of anatomy.

One of Vesalius’s undeniable achievements is the compilation of anatomical terminology in Latin. Based on the names that were introduced into medicine by Celsus (he was called the “Latin Hippocrates”), Andreas removed from the terminology all words remaining from the Middle Ages and minimized terms of Greek origin.

The great scientist also described the correct digestion of bones - this procedure is necessary for creating skeletons.

In his works, he was able to create a solid foundation for the further development of anatomy and surgery. He was convinced that for anyone who wants to become a good doctor in any field, the study of anatomy is a fundamental factor. It was he who gave surgery a chance to develop as a science since ancient times.

All of his iconographic remaining heritage is of great value. And it was graphic methods in anatomical science that irrevocably refuted the relationship between astrology and medicine.

(1514-1564)

The time when Andrei Vesalius, the great scientist, anatomist, surgeon, lived was called the Renaissance. Gone is the dark Middle Ages, which suppressed the consciousness of people with church dogmas, superstitions, and demands for slavish submission to recognized authorities. With the new era came the desire to revive and use the rich heritage of ancient culture. The works of the greatest artists, writers and scientists appeared in all countries. One of the great men of the Renaissance was Andrey Vesalius.

The youth of Vesalius

He was born in Brussels into a family of doctors: Vesalius’s grandfather and great-grandfather commented on and published the works of famous doctors. My father was a court pharmacist and communicated with the most famous doctors of his time. The interests of those around him undoubtedly influenced the interests and aspirations of young Vesalius. Vesalius studied at school and at the university of Louvain, where he received a comprehensive education, studied Greek and Latin, so he could become acquainted with the works of scientists already in his youth. Obviously, he read many medical books written by ancient scientists and contemporaries, since his writings speak of deep knowledge in this area. Every year Vesalius's passionate interest in the study of medicine and anatomical research became more and more evident. In his free time from studying, he carefully dissected the bodies of animals at home: mice, cats, dogs, and enthusiastically studied the structure of their bodies. Vesalius sought to improve his knowledge in medicine, so at the age of seventeen he went to the University of Paris to listen to lectures by the famous anatomist Silvius. Even then, young Vesalius could be critical of the method of teaching anatomy and sought to deepen his knowledge and study a lot through experiments.

In the preface to the treatise “On the Structure of the Human Body,” Vesalius wrote: “My studies would never have led to success if, during my medical work in Paris, I had not put my own hands into this matter... And I myself, somewhat sophisticated with my own experience, publicly performed the third of the autopsies on his own.”

How Vesalius looked for corpses to study them

At his teacher’s lectures, Vesalius replaced inexperienced ministers who ineptly and carelessly demonstrated dissection and individual organs of the human body. The scientist rightly considered anatomy to be the basis of Medical knowledge, and the goal of his life was the desire to revive the experience of the distant past, to develop and improve the method of studying human anatomy. However, the church, which hindered the development of natural sciences, prohibited the autopsy of human corpses, considering it blasphemy. The young anatomist had to overcome many difficulties. To study the human skeleton, he stole bones at night from cemeteries where hungry dogs tore up the graves. Risking his life, he removed the corpses of executed criminals from the gallows and dissected them at home.

Vesalius studied the bones of the human skeleton and many animals so well that he could, without looking at them, name any bone by touch.
In 1537, the young scientist left for Venice. The government of the Venetian Republic encouraged the development of natural science and sought to expand the work of scientists at the University of Padua. In the Republic of Venice at that time there were many enlightened people who helped fight the oppression of the church, and Vesalius here could more freely engage in anatomical research.

Vesalius teaching anatomy to young people

The brilliant talent of the young researcher attracted attention. Twenty-two-year-old Vesalius, who received the title of Doctor of Medicine for his work, was appointed to the department of surgery with the responsibility of teaching anatomy.
At lectures, he himself performed autopsies on corpses and demonstrated organs of the human body. Students, inspired by the bold experiments of Vesalius, which could be seen with their own eyes, filled the audience. The number of students reached five hundred people. The new, visual way of teaching anatomy, which replaced reading the texts of old descriptions, was associated with great difficulties: it was not easy to obtain human corpses. But Vesalius was tireless in his quest to show the true nature of the human body. He obtained permission from doctors to examine the corpses of deceased patients, gained the trust of judges, and received the corpses of executed criminals for public autopsy demonstrations. So Vesalius spent several years in persistent work, and the science of the human body became increasingly clear to him and his students.

He studied, translated and republished the works of medical scientists of the past - the famous Roman doctor of the 2nd century. n. e. Galen, the great Central Asian physician Ibn Sina and many of his anatomist predecessors. But he found many errors in their works. “Even the greatest scientists,” wrote Vesalius, “slavishly adhered to other people’s mistakes and some strange style in their unsuitable manuals.” The scientist began to trust only the most authentic book - the book of the human body, in which there are no errors.

Vesalius' treatise "On the structure of the human body"

He set out to solve the great problem of correctly describing the location, shape and functions of the organs of the human body.
The result of the scientist’s passionate and persistent work was the famous treatise in seven books, entitled “On the Structure of the Human Body.” Vesalius wrote it when he was only 28 years old. It was a gigantic scientific work, in which new scientific views were presented instead of outdated dogmas. It reflected the cultural rise of humanity during the Renaissance.

At that time, printing was developing rapidly in Venice and in Basel, where Vesalius printed his work. His book is decorated with beautiful drawings by the artist Stefan Kalkar, a student of Titian. It is characteristic that the skeletons depicted in the drawings stand in poses characteristic of living people, and the landscapes surrounding some skeletons speak of life, not death. All this work of Vesalius is aimed at the benefit of a living person, at studying his body, at preserving health and life. Each capital letter in the treatise is decorated with a drawing depicting children studying anatomy. This is how it was in ancient times - the art of anatomy was taught from childhood, knowledge was passed on from father to son. The book's magnificent frontispiece artwork depicts Vesalius during a public lecture and dissection of a human corpse.

Envious people and enemies of Vesalius

Vesalius's work excited the minds of scientists. The courage of his scientific thought and his discoveries attracted many followers to him. However, he also had many enemies. The great scientist experienced a lot of grief when even his students abandoned him. The famous Silvius, the teacher of Vesalius, called him “Vesanus”, which means crazy. He came out against him with a sharp pamphlet, which was called "Defense against the slander of the anatomical works of Hippocrates and Galen by a certain madman."

Vesalius tried to fight, giving lectures, again proving the correctness of his teaching, based on experience, but hatred and envy were a response to the irrefutable truths that the great anatomist so clearly and graphically proved.

The struggle broke his will and instilled bitter doubts. In a fit of despair, Vesalius burned many of his works, stopped teaching anatomy and agreed to take the post of court physician to the King of Spain. The scientist transferred his knowledge of human anatomy to medical practice. He treated the sick, studied many medicines, wrote works on surgery and a treatise “On the Chinese Root.”

Vesalius tried to engage in scientific research, but the oppression of the Inquisition and the persecution of the clergy, which the scientist ridiculed in his works, created too difficult a situation for him.

Vesalius's final years

Little is known about the last years of Vesalius' life. The letters of his contemporaries suggest that for autopsy of the deceased, whose heart was still beating, the Inquisition sentenced Vesalius to death. At the direction of the king, the execution was replaced by a pilgrimage to Palestine “to atone for sins.” In 1564, Vesalius left Madrid with his wife and daughter. Leaving his family in Brussels, he set off on a long journey alone. On the way to Jerusalem, the scientist stopped in his beloved Venice.

Vesalius did not abandon the thought of returning to her favorite science. There is an assumption that the Senate of Venice offered him again a chair at the University of Padua.

But the scientist’s dream of returning to science did not come true. On the way back from Jerusalem, the sick Vesalius was thrown into a shipwreck on the island of Zante (Greece), where he died in 1564. We do not know the place of his burial, but the best monument to the scientist and fighter for progressive science is his great work on the structure of the human body .

Vesalius Andreas (1514-1564), naturalist, founder of anatomy. Born in Brussels. Vesalius' activities took place in many European countries. He was one of the first to study the human body through dissection. In his main work, “On the Structure of the Human Body” (books 1-7, 1543), he gave a scientific description of the structure of all organs and systems and pointed out many mistakes of his predecessors, including Galen. Persecuted by the church. Died in a shipwreck.

Vesalius Andrey (Vesalius) - famous surgeon and founder of modern anatomy, born. On December 31, 1514 in Brussels, in a family that included several famous doctors among its ancestors (his grandfather was the author of the work “Comments on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates”). V. was educated in Louvain, Paris and Montpellier and especially devoted himself to the study of human anatomy, at the risk of his life, due to the prejudices of his time, obtaining human corpses. They say that even V. himself, before each dissection of the corpse, fervently asked God for forgiveness for the fact that, in the interests of science, he was looking for the secret of life in death. He soon gained fame as an experienced surgeon and was invited to lecture on anatomy in Basel, Padua, Bologna and Pisa. In 1543, V. published his famous op. “De corporis humani fabrica libri septem” (Basel), which opened a new era in the history of anatomy: the authority of Galen was finally overthrown and human anatomy was placed on the basis of precise experimental research. V.'s work provoked, as one would expect, fierce attacks from obscurantist doctors, against whom V. defended himself with several polemical works. Since 1544, as a physician to Emperor Charles V, V. accompanied him on all his travels, but under his son, Philip II, the Spanish Inquisition managed to capture the long-lurking enemy. Accused that during an autopsy the heart of the deceased revealed some signs of life, V. was sentenced to death. Only thanks to the intercession of Philip II, the death penalty was replaced by a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcher. On his way back, a storm threw the unfortunate scientist onto the island of Zante, where he died (1564). Complete collection of op. V. published by Burgaw and Albin (Leiden, 2 vols., 1725). About V. see “History of Anatomy” by Portal and in “Bibliotheca anatomica” by Haller. For V.’s biography, see Burgaw (Ghent, 1841), Mersman (Bruges, 1845), Weinat (Louvain, 1846).

F. Brockhaus, I.A. Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.

Andreas Vesalius was born in 1514 in Brussels into a family of hereditary physicians. Andreas studied first at school and then at the University of Louvain, where he received a comprehensive education, studied Greek and Latin, thanks to which he could become acquainted with the works of scientists already in his youth. Obviously, he read many books about medicine by ancient and contemporary scientists, since his works speak of deep knowledge. Vesalius independently assembled a complete human skeleton from the bones of an executed man.

Vesalius, at the age of seventeen, went to the University of Montpellier, and in 1533 he first appeared at the medical faculty of the University of Paris to listen to lectures by the anatomist Silvius. Young Vesalius could already take a critical approach to the method of teaching anatomy.

The scientist rightly considered anatomy to be the basis of medical knowledge, and the goal of his life was the desire to revive the experience of the distant past, to develop and improve the method of studying human anatomy. However, the church, which hindered the development of natural sciences, prohibited the autopsy of human corpses, considering it blasphemy. In order to be able to do anatomization, he used every opportunity: he negotiated with the cemetery watchman, and then a corpse suitable for dissection fell into his hands. If there was no money, he, hiding from the watchman, opened the grave himself, without his knowledge.

Vesalius studied the bones of the human and animal skeletons so well that he could name any bone by touch without looking at them.

After receiving his doctorate in 1537, Vesalius began teaching anatomy and surgery at the University of Padua. He lectured and continued his research. The more deeply he studied the internal structure of the body, the more he became convinced that there were many very significant errors in Galen’s teachings, which were simply not noticed by those who were under the influence of Galen’s authority.

He worked on his work for four long years. He studied, translated and republished the works of medical scientists of the past, his anatomist predecessors. He set out to solve the great problem of correctly describing the location, shape and functions of the organs of the human body.

The result of the scientist’s work was the famous treatise “On the Structure of the Human Body” in seven books, which appeared in 1543. Vesalius's work excited the minds of scientists. The courage of his scientific thought was so unusual that, along with his followers who appreciated his discoveries, he had many enemies. The famous Silvius, Vesalius's teacher, called Vesalius "Vesanus", which means crazy.

Most eminent doctors sided with Silvius. They joined his demand to curb and punish Vesalius, who dared to criticize the great Galen.

Having opened dozens of corpses and carefully studied the human skeleton, Vesalius came to the conclusion that the opinion that men have one less rib than women is completely wrong. But such a belief went beyond the scope of medical science. It affected church doctrine.

It was believed that in the human skeleton there is a bone that does not burn in fire and is indestructible. With the help of this bone, a person will be resurrected on the day of the Last Judgment to appear before God. Vesalius directly stated that, while examining the human skeleton, he did not find the mysterious bone.

The scientist continued to teach at the University of Padua, but every day the atmosphere around him became more and more tense. At this time, he received an invitation from the Spanish Emperor Charles V to take the place of court physician. The emperor's court was at that time in Brussels. Vesalius's father also served Charles, and the young professor accepted the emperor's offer.

Vesalius devoted all his free time to the treatise “On the Structure of the Human Body.” He made amendments, additions, and clarified what did not seem entirely convincing to him. Taking every opportunity, he was engaged in anatomization.

He managed to publish his treatise “On the Structure of the Human Body” in the second edition.

Under Charles V's successor, Philip II, the church's strict prohibitions on dissecting corpses again affected Vesalius. He was charged with dissecting a living person.

In 1564, leaving his family in Brussels, he set off on a long journey. On the way back from Jerusalem During a shipwreck, the sick Vesalius was thrown onto the island of Zante (Greece), where he died in 1564.

Reprinted from the site http://100top.ru/encyclopedia/

In 1543, that is, two years after the death of Paracelsus, the printing house of Johannes Oporinus in Basel published a book entitled On the Structure of the Human Body, the author of which argued that Galen's anatomy was erroneous and was written based on observations of animals rather than humans. The author of this work, who boldly questioned the correctness of the statements of ancient scientists, was Andrei (Andreas) Vesalius. Andrew Vesalius was born in 1514 in Brussels. His father was a court pharmacist, and his grandfather was a doctor. Therefore, from an early age, Vesalius encountered medical problems at home. He studied medicine first in Paris, then returned to Belgium and entered the University of Louvain. Both in Paris and in Louvain, anatomy was studied according to Galen, and sections were performed very rarely. In Louvain, Vesalius once managed to obtain the corpse of a hanged man, from which Vesalius dissected a complete human skeleton. This was the first anatomical preparation in Europe.

After receiving his doctorate in 1537, Vesalius began teaching anatomy and surgery at the University of Padua. While lecturing, Vesalius demonstrated anatomical tables, which were published the following year. In his lectures, Vesalius adhered to the teachings of Galen, but based on his own observations, he increasingly came to the conclusion that much of Galen’s information was erroneous.

It is quite clear that Vesalius’s research depended on the possibilities of conducting sections. True, he managed from time to time to obtain the corpses of executed criminals, but there were too few of them to carry out the extensive scientific work conceived by Vesalius. Therefore, he had to, together with his students, secretly steal the bodies of the dead buried in the cemetery in Padua. This threatened the scientist not only with a scandal, but also with beatings from the cemetery guards. Nevertheless, the scientist obtained more and more data about the structure of the human body and, finally, after five years of hard work, he managed to finish his large book on anatomy. The book was abundantly illustrated with engravings by the artist Stefan Kalkar, a friend of Vesalius. Vesalius corrected over two hundred errors of Galen, especially in the structure of internal organs. Vesalius was interested, however, not only in their structure, but also in their functions, and devoted most of his attention to the work of the heart and brain. Vesalius is rightly considered the creator of modern anatomy and the founder of the school of anatomists, from which came such luminaries of science as B. Eustachio, G. Fallopius, Aransius, L. Botallo, Boen and many others. Vesalius also enjoyed success as a medical practitioner. He was appointed court physician to Emperor Charles V. Long-term wars forced Vesalius to wander throughout Europe. When he succeeded in settling in Augsburg for several years, he prepared a second edition of his anatomy; This publication, which appeared in 1555, was for two centuries the only textbook for medical students in all of Europe.

After the abdication of Charles V, his place was taken by Philip II, who reappointed Vesalius as court physician. This circumstance, however, did not prevent Vesalius from being handed over to the Inquisition a few years later for heretical beliefs, for example, for claiming that a man has 12 ribs, although everyone knows that God used one rib of Adam to create Eve.

Thanks to the emperor’s petition, Vesalius was not sentenced to be burned at the stake, but escaped only with a sentence according to which he had to make a penitential journey to the “holy land.” In 1564, returning from Jerusalem, Vesalius died under mysterious circumstances on the ship and was buried on the Greek island of Zante.

Biography of Andrei Vesalius: Youth, university studies

Teaching anatomy by Sylvius

Activities of Andrei Vesalius at the university

Publication of anatomical tables

"Departure" from science

Vezaliev. In my parents' house on one of the outskirts of Brussels, where

Andrei's childhood was reminiscent of the life of his illustrious ancestors. The library contained thick manuscripts left over from my great-great-grandfather. Events from medical life were a constant topic of conversation. My father often traveled on business and upon his return would talk about his meetings with high-ranking clients. The mother, who surrounded Andrei with care and affection, began reading medical treatises to her son early. Being a cultured woman, she always tried to respect the medical traditions of her home. Very early, Andrei developed a respect for family heirlooms and a love for the medical profession. Childhood years largely predetermined the direction of Andrei Vesalius’ thought. The impressions gleaned from books attracted the boy to the path of independent study of nature. Interest in studying the body structure of domestic animals prompted him to decide to dissect the corpses of mice, birds, and dogs.

Elementary home schooling could not be thorough. In 1528 Vesalius was arranged to study at collegium in Louvain. There he took a course in natural philosophy. He then switched to studying Greek, Arabic and Hebrew in a special collegium. But only Greek and Latin really captivate him. Here he achieves great success.

There is no doubt that Vesalius was influenced during this period by his teacher Gunther from Andernach(aka Gontier according to French sources) is a great expert in Latin and Greek. This medical scientist and philologist soon left Louvain and moved to Paris, taking up the position of professor of medicine at the university. Perhaps this circumstance played a role in Vesalius’ decision to go to Paris to continue his education.

A course of practical lessons in anatomy was given to demonstrators who were recruited from barbers. Subsequently Vesalius cruelly mocked the autopsy procedure at the University of Paris. His teacher Gunther did not take part in these classes. Vezali later wrote, as a friendly joke, that he saw the knife in the hands of his teacher only while eating.

Very little is known about Vesalius's meetings with the great Parisian anatomist of the time, Charles Estienne(1504-1564), who knew human anatomy perfectly, first examined the seminal vesicles, discovered subarachnoid space and studied the sympathetic trunk, proving its independence from the vagus nerve. His book “Dissection of the Parts of the Human Body” (1545) not without success competed with Vesalius’s treatise, although it was inferior to him in all respects. Cordier(1955) believes that Estienne together with Silvius paid a lot of attention to vein valves and described some of them for the first time.

Among Gunther's other students, Vesalius met Miguel Serveta, with whom they studied anatomy together and helped Gunther.

From the University of Paris Vesalius I came out with a good amount of knowledge. He skillfully mastered anatomical technique and thoroughly knew the anatomy of Galen, besides which, as Gunther and Silvius taught him, there is no other anatomy. The level of knowledge and experience of Vesalius as a dissector can be judged by the remark of Gunther, who in Basel edition of Galen's Anatomical Exercises (1536), assessing Vesalius's participation in the preparation of the book, wrote about him as “a young, promising man Hercules with great hopes, possessing extraordinary knowledge medicine, trained in both languages, very skilled in anatomy corpse." In 1535-1536 Vesalius takes part in the Franco-German war and at the end of it returns to Louvain, where he produces corpse sections and prepares skeletons. In the fair