Andreas Vesalius

31 December 1514 – 15 October 1564

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) was a Flemish anatomist and physician, widely regarded as the founder of modern human anatomy. His landmark 1543 work De humani corporis fabrica, based on dissections he performed himself, corrected centuries of errors inherited from Galen. He later served as imperial physician to Emperor Charles V and to Philip II of Spain.

Comparing
Compare

Lived at the same time

Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Andreas Vesalius.

Life events

Born in Brussels, Habsburg Netherlands
31 December 1514

Andreas Vesalius was born into a family of physicians and apothecaries with long ties to the Habsburg court.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studied arts at the University of Leuven
c. 1529 – 1533

Vesalius began his higher education at the University of Leuven, studying arts and languages.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Studied medicine at the University of Paris
1533 – 1536

Vesalius studied medicine in Paris under Jacques Dubois (Sylvius) and Johann Guinter von Andernach, developing his interest in anatomy and dissection.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Received his medical doctorate from the University of Padua and became professor of surgery and anatomy
5 December 1537

Vesalius graduated as doctor of medicine at Padua and was immediately appointed to teach surgery and anatomy, conducting dissections himself rather than delegating them.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Published the Tabulae anatomicae sex, six large anatomical charts
1538

Vesalius issued six illustrated anatomical tables for students, an early step toward his great anatomical atlas.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Published De humani corporis fabrica, the foundational work of modern anatomy
June 1543

Vesalius published his seven-volume masterpiece On the Fabric of the Human Body in Basel, revolutionizing the study of anatomy with detailed illustrations based on human dissection.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Became imperial physician at the court of Emperor Charles V
1544

Vesalius left academic life to serve as physician to the household of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Married Anne van Hamme of Brussels
1544

Vesalius married Anne van Hamme, with whom he had a daughter, also named Anne.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relationship ✓
Entered the service of King Philip II of Spain and moved to Madrid
1556

After Charles V's abdication, Vesalius continued at court as one of the physicians to Philip II of Spain.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Died on the island of Zakynthos while returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
15 October 1564

Vesalius died in October 1564 after being shipwrecked or falling ill on the Greek island of Zakynthos on his return voyage from Jerusalem.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓