ANDREAS VESALIUS: A biography    

Document modified from the original by Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D. , and published here as a courtesy of Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. In this web site you will also find a separate page some links to the works, pictures, and biography of Andreas vesalius

Original written by:      Richard S. Westfall (1924-1996)
                                 Department of History and Philosophy of Science
                                 Indiana University

The original document can be found at the Galileo Project of the Rice University.

ANDREAS VESALIUS

1. Dates

      Born: Brussels, 31 December 1514,  05:45 AM
      Died: Zakinthos (Zante), 15 October 1564
      Dateinfo: Dates Certain
      Lifespan: 50 years

2.  Family

2.a. Father  Name:  Andries van Wesele
  Occupation:  Government Official

2.b. Mother Name:  Isabella Crabbe

2.c. Children of Andries Van Wesele and Isabella Crabbe

  Nicolas Wesele (Witing) Crabbe
  André Wesele (Witing) Crabbe
  Francois (Franciscus) Wesele (Witing) Crabbe
  Anne  Wesele (Witing) Crabbe

2d. Personal family

Vesalius was married c.1545 to Anne Van Hamme, one daughter ,Anne, was born c.1546.  No further information has been found on the whereabouts of Vesalius' daughter.

3. Nationality
     Birth: Belgian Area
     Career: Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgian Area
 
4. Education
     Schooling: Brussels, Louvain, Paris, Padua

5. Religion
     Affiliation: Catholic
 

6. Scientific Disciplines
     Primary: Anatomy, Medicine, Physiology
     Subordinate: Pharmacology

7. Means of Support
     Primary: Patronage, Medicine
     Secondary: Academia

8. Patronage
     Types: Physician, Court Official

9. Technological Involvement
     Types: Medical Practice, Pharmacology

10. Scientific Societies
     Memberships: None

11 Publications

1537 -  A Paraphrase on the Ninth Book of Rhazes - baccalaureate thesis  (Louvain,1537; Rober Winter, Basel, 1537)
1538 -  Tabulae sex  (Winter)
1538 -  Institutionum Anatomicarum secundum Galeni Sententiam ad  Candidatos Libri Quator. - A revision of Johan Guinter fo Andernach’s  original work. (Giunta)
1539 -  The Venesection letter (Winter, Basel)
1541 - The Opera Galeni - A revision of Galen’s works. (Giunta, 1541, Froben,  1542)
1543 -  De Humani Corporis Fabrica, libri septem (Johannes Oporinus)
1546 -  Letter on the China Root (Johannes Oporinus)
1555 -  The Humani Corporis Fabrica Epitome (Johannes Oporinus)
1564 -  Andrea Vesalii Anatomicarum Gabrielis Falopii Observationum Examen  Augustinus Gadaldinus, May 24

11a. Posmortem publications

1934 - Icones Anatomicae -  Wiegand, Lambert and Archibal Malloch

BIOGRAPHY

Andreas Vesalius real name was André Wesele (Witing) Crabbe. He was born in the city of Brussels, at 05:45 AM on  December 31st., 1514.

His family descends from the Witing family original from the city of Wesel, Northern Germany. After moving to Brussels Vesalius grandfather adopted the name “Von Vessels” which later derived into Vesalii (in Latin).

His father, Andries van Wesele, was an apothecary to Emperor Maximillian and then his son Charles V. He became a constant attendant to Charles, a valet de chambre. His father was the illegitimate son of  Everard van Wesele, physician to the Emperor, and Marguerite Swinters. Due to the value of his work, Andries Van Wesele was later declared legitimate by the Emperor.

His great-grandfather John Witing, (Johannes van Vessels ?-1485) served Frederick III and was granted the heraldic device of three weasels. Vesalius came from a long line of physicians who were in royal service.

His great-great-grandfather, Peter, was a physician who gathered an extensive library which  Vesalius inherited in part.

Vesalius took his elementary studies in Brussels most likely at the school of the Brothers of the Common Life. He matriculated at the University of Louvain on February 25, 1530 (15 years of age) as “Andreas Van Wesel aus Bruxella”, to pursue an arts curriculum. It is unknown when he decided to study medicine, possibly after 1531 when the Emperor legitimized his father in consideration of his continual service as valet de chambre.

Vesalius commenced his medical schooling at the University of Paris two years later (registered on September, 1533). Studied Anatomy with Johan Guinter of Andernach (1487-1574) and Jacobus Sylvius (Jacques du Bois of Amiens, 1478-1555). He left Paris in 1536 because of the war between France and the Holy Roman Empire. He returned to Louvain and with the support of the local Burgomaister he was able to reintroduce anatomical dissection at the local school. He received his bachelor's in medicine the following  year. At  Louvain, Vesalius studies under three professors, Leonard Willemaers, Arnold Noots, and later Joannes Armenterianus.

 In the same year, he enrolled in the medical school of the University of Padua. With his previous work at Louvain and Paris it was only months before Vesalius passed his exams (December 1st to 5th, 1537) and received his title as doctor in medicine cum ultima diminutione. A few days later he was appointed to the Faculty of the University of Padua as Professor of Anatomy and Surgery.

He acquired great skill in dissection but remained under the influence of the Galenic concepts of anatomy. Immediately after his graduation from Padua he began lecturing on surgery and anatomy.

In 1537, Vesalius published his first book, A Paraphrase of the Ninth Book of Rhazes. He despaired for the lack of Latin translation for the arabic terms used in medicine at that time.

 Unlike many other lecturers of the time, Vesalius  insisted on carrying out his own dissections for his classes. He produced for the aid of his  students four large anatomical charts. After one of them was plagiarized and published, he printed the remaining three charts with three views of the skeleton by Jan Stephen, a student  from Titian's studio. This work appeared in 1538 as Tabulae anatomicae sex. The Tabulae had sketches believed to have been drawn by Vesalius and by Jan Stefan Van Kalkar, a sudent of the Titian’s studio.

The same year he produced an anatomical manual for his students, Institutiones anatomicae. This book is a revision of a book originally written by Johan Guinter of Andernach, and originally published in Basel in 1536. Vesalius' anatomical researches were beginning to call into question some of Galen's findings. By 1540 he was certain that Galen's research did not reflect human anatomy; rather it was the  anatomy of an ape.

In 1539, after a visit to Matteo Corti, and a discussion on bloodletting, he published an essay on the topic, known as the Venesection Letter.

In 1543 Vesalius published two works on anatomy directed to two separate audiences. The first book, has become world known as the first scientific book on anatomy. This is The Humani Corporis Fabrica, libri septem, also known as the Fabrica. This book was published by Joannes Oporinus in Basel, Switzerland.

In the  longer of the two, the Fabrica, Vesalius hoped to persuade the established medical world to  appreciate anatomy as the foundation of all other medical research. The errors of Galen and of others could be corrected by active dissection and observation of the human structure.

In  the same year Vesalius published a work for students, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Epitome, also known as the Epitome, which also emphasized the importance of dissection and anatomical knowledge in general to the practice of medicine.  Both works were amply illustrated possibly by students from Titian's studio, and published by Johannes Oporinus ( John Herbst, 1507-1568)

After receiving his doctorate in medicine (1537) at Padua, Vesalius accepted a position there as explicator chirurgiae. He was responsible for lecturing on surgery and anatomy.

In 1543, he left academic research to become physician to the imperial household. Vesalius  held this position until Charles V abdicated in favor of his son Philip II, whom Vesalius served until his own death. While in royal service Vesalius acted as a military surgeon during the  Hapsburg campaigns. He also served various members of the court and was so esteemed as a physician that he was called to consult on serious cases.

 Vesalius dedicated two of his earlier works to Nicolas Florenas, a physician and family friend.  Vesalius referred to Florenas as the patron of his earlier studies.

 Vesalius served the courts of both Charles V and his son Philip II. He dedicated his Fabrica to Charles V.

In June 13, 1546 Vesalius wrote a letter on the discovery and therapeutic use of the china root  in the   treatment of syphilis to his friend Joachim Roelants. This letter was later published as the  Epistola on the China Root. This letter was copied (handwritten). His brother Franciscus Vesalius obtained a copy of the letter and sent it to Joannes Oporinus who published it.

The following year he introduced a new procedure, the surgically induced drainage of  empyema.

In 1553, Vesalius started his medical private practice in Brussels.

In 1555, Vesalius published a revised version of the Fabrica, along with an unrevised second edition of the Epitome. This second edition of the Fabrica includes important revisions, such as the description of the vein valves, undiscovered in 1543. These valves were described to Vesalius in 1546 by Gianbattista Canano, an Italian physician.

In 1559, Vesalius left his private practice an became a physician to the King of Spain. These were hard years for Vesalius, due to the fact that he was rejected by the Spanish physicians.

In 1561 he wrote the book An examination of Gabrielle Fallopio’s Anatomical Observations.

In early 1564, Vesalius left Spain and went to Marseilles, and from there to Venice. Apparently he was re-appointed as a professor at Padua. In March or April of 1564, Vesalius started a journey to Jerusalem. The reasons for his trip to the Holy Land are not clear. There are many versions, some of which seem mythical, including a legend where he was forced to do this trip because he did a dissection on a specimen who turned out to be alive! Another one states that he was sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition, but had his sentence revoked for a trip to the Holy Land.  It seems that Vesalius wanted to do this trip as a way to make a new start.  In fact, he was on the return voyage on his way back to Padua when he  fell ill. He died on the island of Zanthe (Zakynthos), off the cost of Greece. His remains are undiscovered.   A bust of Vesalius on Zanthe reminds us of the fate of this great anatomist.

The story of his postmortem book remains to be written.  In 1934 the original wood blocks were used to print 617 copies of the "Iconaes Anatomica".  This books is rare and no more can be printed.  Sadly, during a 1943 bombing raid in WWII over Munich all the wood blocks were burnt.

Sources
1.Harvey Cushing, A Bio-Biography of Andreas Vesalius, (Hamden, 1962). Spec. QM16 .V5 Z6
2. C.D. O'Malley, Andreas Vesalius of Brussels 1514-1564, (Los Angeles, 1965). QM16 .V5 O5
3. Jerome Tarshis. “Andreas Vesalius, Father of Modern Anatomy”( New York, 1969) The Dial Press Inc. LCN 71-88649
4. Saunder And O’Malley. “Vesalius, the illustrations from his works” 1950 World Publishing company.

Other links to the biography and works of Andreas Vesalius

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