Felix Platter (also Plater ; ; Latinized: Platerus; 28 October 1536 – 28 July 1614) was a Swiss

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, well known for his classification of psychiatric diseases, and was also the first to describe an intracranial

tumour A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

(a meningioma).

Biography

Felix Platter was the son of Lutheran humanist, schoolmaster and printer,

Thomas Platter Thomas Platter the Elder (; ; 10 February 1499, in Grächen, Valais – 26 January 1582, in Basel) was a Swiss humanist scholar and writer. Biography Thomas Platter (the Elder) was a master of several languages, knowing Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, ...

, and the half-brother of

Thomas Platter the Younger Thomas Platter the Younger (; ; c. 24 July 1574 in Basel – 4 December 1628 in Basel) was a Swiss-born physician, traveller and diarist, the son of the humanist Thomas Platter the Elder. The foremost record of Platter's life is the manuscript ...

. In 1552, and only fifteen years old, Platter travelled by pony from

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

to the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

to start a course of study under

Guillaume Rondelet Guillaume Rondelet (27 September 150730 July 1566), also known as Rondeletus/Rondeletius, was Regius professor of medicine at the University of Montpellier in southern France and Chancellor of the University between 1556 and his death in 1566. He ...

. He earned his

medical doctorate Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

from Montpellier in 1557. Once arrived, he lodged in the house of Laurent Catalan, the town pharmacist and a

Maran Maran () is an honorific title for exceptionally respected rabbis who are considered influential teachers and leaders. The term is more prevalent among Sephardi Jews, but it is also widely used by Ashkenazi Haredi Jews. It is an Aramaic word used ...

or Christian Jew. Platter occasionally sent packages of fruits and seeds to his father. His studies took place in an atmosphere of terror and religious persecution. Rondelet taught his students the technique of pressing, drying and mounting botanical specimens on paper, a process practised by his former mentor,

Luca Ghini Luca Ghini (Casalfiumanese, 1490 – Bologna, 4 May 1556) was an Italian physician and botanist, notable as the creator of the first recorded herbarium, as well as the first botanical garden in Europe. Biography Ghini was born in Casalfiumanese, ...

. Returning to Basel in 1557, Platter soon established himself as a successful physician and became professor of practical medicine at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

, amassing a famous collection of curiosities at his house as well as an enormous library of pressed plant specimens.''The Naming of Names'' by

Anna Pavord Anna Pavord (born 20 September 1940) ''People of Today'' (2017) Debrett's, "Anna Pavord" is a British horticultural writer. She wrote for ''The Observer'' for over twenty years and for ''The independent'' for over thirty years - from its first to ...

(Bloomsbury, 2005). Platter's description of Dupuytren's disease in 1614 is explained with regard to his understanding of the anatomy. The current view that Platter believed the disease to be caused by dislocation and shortening of the flexor tendons is based upon misinterpretation of the original Latin text. With the help of his anatomical studies, Platter had proven that subcutaneous ligamentous extensions of the palmar aponeurosis and not the flexor tendons were responsible for Dupuytren's disease. Felix Platter realised more than one hundred and fifty years before

Henry Cline Henry Cline (1750–1827) was an English surgeon and president of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was also a political radical, associated with leading supporters of the French Revolution, a farmer, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Life ...

Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the patholog ...

, and

Dupuytren Baron Guillaume Dupuytren (; 5 October 1777 – 8 February 1835) was a French anatomist and military surgeon. Although he gained much esteem for treating Napoleon Bonaparte's hemorrhoids, he is best known today for his description of Dupuytren' ...

, that the palmar aponeurosis was the anatomical substrate of the disease. In the view of historian David Wootton, developed in the book ''Bad Medicine'', Platter was the first proponent of the

Germ theory of disease The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade ...

. His ''Praxeos Medicae'' (1602) was drawn on extensively by

Robert Burton Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, who wrote the encyclopedic tome ''The Anatomy of Melancholy''. Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Burt ...

in the

Anatomy of Melancholy ''The Anatomy of Melancholy'' (full title: ''The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections. Ph ...

References

* 1536 births 1614 deaths 16th-century Swiss physicians 17th-century Swiss physicians Swiss medical writers {{Switzerland-med-bio-stub