Magnus Hundt or Magnus Canis (1449 in Magdeburg – 1519 in

Meißen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrec ...

), also known as Parthenopolitanus, was a German

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

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 t ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

. Hundt coined the term

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, and he and

Otto Casmann Otto Casmann (1562 – 1 August 1607) (also known by the Latinized name ''Casmannus'') was a German humanist who converted from Catholicism to Protestantism as a young man. Biography Casmann started studying philosophy at the University of Mar ...

have been mentioned as founders of anthropology since they used the term in the 16th century.

Background

Hundt was born in Magdeburg in 1449 and began his studies in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as we ...

at the age of 33, receiving a Baccalaureate in 1484. In 1487, the year he received his advanced degree, he was appointed dean of the Faculty of Arts, and in 1499 he became rector of the University. At some point in his career he is believed to have served as physician to Count Schlick of Joachimsthal. His interests went beyond medicine, and in 1510 he received a doctorate in theology and held a chair in same subject at the University in

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechts ...

, where the University of Leipzig had relocated because of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

. He died in that city in 1519. During his lifetime, Hundt, also known as Magnus Hund and Magnus Canis ("Big Dog" in Latin), composed a book on grammar, commentaries on

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

and Pierre Lombard, and diverse philosophical works.

''Antropologium''

Magnus Hundt's ''Antropologium de hominis dignitate, natura et proprietatibus, de elementis, partibus et membris humani corporis'', published in Leipzig in 1501, serves to explain the body not only anatomically and physiologically, but philosophically and religiously too, stating that humans were created in the image of God and represent a microcosm of the world as God created it. Although the field has evolved to mean something different from how it is used in this work, Hundt's ''Antropologium'' contains the first mention ever of the term anthropology. ''Antropologium'' contains 17 woodcut illustrations of

human anatomy The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body. It comprises a head, ...

, one of which, the human head on the verso of the title page, is repeated once. The illustrations are schematic, rather than accurate depictions. Some of the smaller images first appeared, though often in a more crude form, in

Johann Peyligk Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious ...

's ''Philosophie Naturalis Compendium'' (Leipzig: Melchior Lotter, 1499).

References

* Choulant, L. ''History and bibliography of anatomic illustration.'' Trans. and annotated by Mortimer Frank. (New York: Hafner, 1962). * Gysel, C. "L'odonto-stomatologie de Johann Peyligk (1499) et de Magnus Hundt (1501)." ''Revue d'odonto-stomatologie'', t. XV, no. 3 (mai-juin 1986), p. 187-198. * ''Morton's Medical Bibliography (Garrison and Morton).'' Ed. By Jeremy Norman. Fifth ed. (Aldershot, Hants, England : Scolar Press; Brookfield, Vt., USA : Gower Pub. Co., 1991). No. 363.3. * Adapted from public domain text a
Magnus Hundt Biography
Historical Anatomies on the Web. US National Library of Medicine.

External links

Selected pages scanned from the original work. Historical Anatomies on the Web. US National Library of Medicine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hundt 1449 births 1519 deaths 16th-century German Catholic theologians Physicians from Saxony-Anhalt 16th-century German physicians German male non-fiction writers 15th-century German physicians Medieval German theologians 15th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers 16th-century Latin-language writers