Antonio Benivieni
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Antonio di Paolo Benivieni (1443–1502) was a Florentine
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
who pioneered the use of the
autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...
and many medical historians have considered him a founder of
pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...
.


Biography


Early life and education

Benivieni was born in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, Italy, on November 3, 1443. His father Paolo was a nobleman, notary and a member, alongside his wife Nastagia de’ Bruni, of a prominent and wealthy Florentine family from S. Giovanni. Their coat of arms had a silver moon with a blue background. He was the first of five children alongside Domenico, theology reader at the
University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...
, and Girolamo, famous poet and scholar. At first he embraced the literary career and was a pupil of Francesco da Castiglione during his studies of Greek. Subsequently, he abandoned this path to devote himself ''"ad philosophie ... et medicine secreta perscrutandum"'', continuing however to cultivate letters having the protection of the
House of Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo de' Medici, Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first h ...
: Cosimo il Vecchio and Piero il Gottoso. Benivieni's early education was provided by tutors and he then studied medicine at the university of
Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
and
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
.


Adult life and career

The beginning of his activity as a doctor can be dated to around 1470, since Girolamo, in the epistle to Giovanni Rosati, writes that his brother went ''"medicating for about thirty-two years"''. In Florence Benivieni soon acquired a great reputation for safety in diagnoses, for the wise use of drugs and above all for his skill as a surgeon. Due to a lack of data, it is not possible to establish the year in which Benivieni was enrolled in the ''“Arte dei medici e degli speziali”''. In 1473 he was appointed consul of the Arte and from March 1494 to May 1496 he was prior. He treated members of noble and powerful families such as the Medici, the
Pazzi The Pazzi were a powerful family in the Republic of Florence. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, members of the family were banished from Florence and their property was ...
, the Adimari, the Strozzi family, and was also a doctor of convents (San Nicolò, S. Caterina, SS. Annunziata, S. Marco). He treated Francesco of 16 years old of the Guicciardini family, and he was a friend and follower of Gerolamo Savonarola as well as his doctor. He had a particular friendship with
Lorenzo il Magnifico Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...
and he treated his daughter. In 1464 he dedicated to Lorenzo il Magnifico the ''“εγκώμιον Cosmi”'', then the ''“De regimine sanitatis”'' and again the ''“De peste”''. In the book of Memories, which is an autobiographical manuscript in the State Archives of Florence, there is various information on Benivieni's economic life; he noted in this book private business, purchases, payments and sometimes even notes on his profession. Most of his income came from possessions in Florence and in the countryside. Antonio Benivieni owned various Greek, Latin and Arab works, including many medical works such as ''"I
Consilia Consilia (plural of ''consilium'', 'advice') is a genre of book, originating in medieval era plagues, where practical advice is given on a medical or other philosophical subject. Origin The format was originated by the Florentine doctor of medicin ...
"'' of Taddeo and treatises on poisons, baths and various medications. This collection shows not only Antonio Benivieni's great medical culture but also the humanistic one.


Death

Benivieni died on November 2, 1502, in Florence and was buried in the chapel of the Basilica of SS. Annunziata. On the tombstone was engraved ''“D.O.M. Antonio Benivenio patri philosopho ac doctor sibi posterisque Michael Benivenius posuit. Obiit die II. November an. sal. MDII "''. The chapel then passed to the Donati family and in 1665 Carlo Donati changed the plaque which is still visible today.


Contributions to medicine


Cultural context

During the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
(14th - 17th century),a new curiosity aroused towards pathological conditions of the human body. Attempts in this direction had already been made by the
Alexandrian school The Alexandrian school is a collective designation for certain tendencies in literature, philosophy, medicine, and the sciences that developed in the Hellenistic cultural center of Alexandria, Egypt during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Alex ...
, but the first autopsy done for this purpose was performed in 1302 in
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
. However, it was only at the end of the fifteenth century, after the Church and governments granted the authorisation for the free exercise of anatomical
dissection Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause of ...
, that the autopsy, aimed at knowing the cause of death, became a common practice both in hospitals and in private houses.


''De Abditis Morborum Causis''

He was considered a skilled diagnostician and praised for his ability to treat difficult cases. The observations reported in the work "Abditis morborum causis" (Florence 1507) are the first objective anatomical-pathological studies; in this work emerges the intuition that it is necessary to seek the existence of relations between the clinic, pathology, and pathological anatomy for the correct understanding of morbid phenomena. It will be this same intuition that after two centuries will inspire
Giovanni Battista Morgagni Giovanni Battista Morgagni (25 February 1682 – 6 December 1771) was an Italian anatomy, anatomist, generally regarded as the father of modern anatomical pathology, who taught thousands of medical students from many countries during his 56 year ...
in the compilation of the work that marks the beginning of pathological anatomy ''“De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis"'' (1761). In the work of Benivieni are reported some of the most important pathological anatomy representations, such as the discovery of gallbladder stones, a peritoneal
abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body, usually caused by bacterial infection. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pre ...
, a stomach and intestine cancer, an
intestinal perforation Gastrointestinal perforation, also known as gastrointestinal rupture, is a hole in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. The gastrointestinal tract is composed of hollow digestive organs leading from the mouth to the anus. Symptoms of gastroi ...
(the first described in the history of medicine), and a
megacolon Megacolon is an abnormal dilation of the colon (anatomy), colon (also called the large intestine). This leads to hypertrophy of the colon. The dilation is often accompanied by a paralysis of the peristalsis, peristaltic movements of the bowel. In ...
; he was the first to objectively study
teratology Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology caused by ...
, and also in the clinical field he had a very important contribution with his studies on helminthology and on the transmission of
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
from the mother to the
fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...
.


History of the work

Antonio Benivieni did not publish his works when he was alive, after his death his brother Girolamo, while reorganizing his belongings, found some writings that he described as very interesting clinical cases; then he sent them to Giovanni Rosati, an important physician, who suggested publishing them because of their brilliance so they published a part of those writings calling them “Antonii Benivenii, De abditis nonnullis ac mirandis morborum et sanationum causis, Florentiae” (1507). The title would appear to have been suggested by Celsus's " Abdditae morborum causae", in these writings the observations of Benivieni imply that he knew about medicine, surgery and
obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...
. The work was subsequently published again in Latin and in the nineteenth century we have the first Italian translation by Carlo Burci, which was based on the sixteenth-century edition because the original manuscript at that time was lost; it was later found by Burci himself, who discovered that the original manuscript contained a dedication. This dedication was to Lorenzo Lorenzani and stated that the plan of his work was to divide his observations into three groups of one hundred; this dedication and some unpublished observations were subsequently published by Francesco Puccinotti and Burci in the treatise “Storia della Medicina". Nowadays the original manuscript is lost and no trace remains.


Benivieni's findings

Some of the protocols which resemble the ones used nowadays in autopsy are described i''n De Abditis Morborum Causis'' ("The Hidden Causes of Disease ''), which is now considered one of the first works in the science of pathology. This is one of the reasons why he has been referred to as the "father of pathologic anatomy.” The observations, which are about 111, are mainly clinical and yet stand out for Beninvieni's skills in medicine, surgery and obstetrics. The following are particularly noteworthy: on Gallic disease (n. 1), important for the year of compilation; on
liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...
stones in a woman (No. III); on the bone resection he performed on a young girl (n. XXV); on a dead fetus which he extracted with the hook (n. XXIX); on the vascular connections (n. LXVIII); on lithotripsy (n. LXXX); the various teratological observations are also important. Furthermore, other interesting pathological observations to point out are: the presence of an
abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body, usually caused by bacterial infection. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pre ...
between the laminae of the
mesentery In human anatomy, the mesentery is an Organ (anatomy), organ that attaches the intestines to the posterior abdominal wall, consisting of a double fold of the peritoneum. It helps (among other functions) in storing Adipose tissue, fat and allowi ...
in a young woman who suffered from violent pains in the abdomen; narrowing of the intestine with enlargement and hardening of its walls (possibly a cancer) in a woman subject to
colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content ou ...
and
constipation Constipation is a bowel dysfunction that makes bowel movements infrequent or hard to pass. The Human feces, stool is often hard and dry. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling as if one has not completely passed the ...
; a cancer of a
pylorus The pylorus ( or ) connects the stomach to the duodenum. The pylorus is considered as having two parts, the ''pyloric antrum'' (opening to the body of the stomach) and the ''pyloric canal'' (opening to the duodenum). The ''pyloric canal'' ends a ...
, described as scirrhous and constricted in a man prone to chronic vomiting. Benivieni also saw intestinal perforations in chronic dysentery (it recalls the amoebic dysentery); a megacolon in a child who died of colic; a bristly, hairy-looking heart in an executed man.


The importance of Benivieni's work

The great importance of Benivieni's work, for which he obtained the appellant of "father of pathological anatomy", consists in the association of observations carried out during clinical cases and necropsy. He was looking for the causes of death and he endeavoured to establish a parallelism between the symptoms reported in life and anatomical lesions. The anatomical-clinical method started by Benivieni, will slowly develop in the following centuries and culminates with Giovanni Battista Morgagni. His work is also a valuable testimony of the importance already attributed to the autopsy at the time.


Notes


Bibliography

• • • • • • • {{DEFAULTSORT:Benivieni, Antonio 1443 births 1502 deaths 15th-century people from the Republic of Florence 15th-century Italian physicians Italian pathologists 15th-century Italian writers