Valerius Cordus (18 February 1515 – 25 September 1544) was a German
physician,
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
and
pharmacologist who authored the first
pharmacopoeia North of the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
and one of the most celebrated
herbals in history. He is also widely credited with developing a method for synthesizing
ether
In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again b ...
(which he called by the Latin name ''oleum dulci vitrioli'', or "sweet oil of vitriol").
Cordus wrote prolifically, and identified and described several new
plant species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
and
varieties. The plant
genus ''
Cordia'' is named for him.
Life
In 1515, Valerius Cordus was born either in the city of
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
in
Thuringia, or somewhere in the westwardly adjacent
state of
Hesse. His father,
Euricius Cordus (born Heinrich Ritze, 1486–1535), was an educated
physician and an ardent
Lutheran convert.
Valerius began his higher education in 1527, at the young age of 12, when he enrolled at the
University of Marburg, studying
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
and
pharmacy under the tutelage of his father, who had been appointed professor of medicine at the newly established university in the same year. He completed his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...
in 1531, whereupon he furthered his studies by enrolling at the
University of Leipzig, and by working at an
apothecary
''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Americ ...
shop in
Leipzig owned by his uncle (either Johannes or Joachim).
In 1539 he relocated to
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north ...
in order to lecture and study medicine at the
University of Wittenberg. His lectures proved popular, and his students' lecture notes were published posthumously in 1549 as ''Annotations on Dioscorides''. Among the research outlined in the lectures were the results of his own systematic observations of many of the same plants described by
Pedanius Dioscorides
Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...
in the 1st century CE. Direct observation of live specimens was one of Cordus' strengths.
In 1540 Cordus discovered and described a revolutionary technique for synthesizing ether, which involved adding
sulfuric acid to
ethyl alcohol.
In 1543, while on his way for a long trip in
Italy, he presented his pharmacopoeia, ''Dispensatorium'', to the
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
city council. The council paid him 100 gold
guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empi ...
s following the acceptance of the work in October of the same year, and had the work published posthumously in 1546.
In October 1543, Cordus left Nuremberg for Italy.
He stayed in
Padua and
Venice during the winter and next spring. Shortly after Pentecost, he and two German naturalists started to traverse Italy, continuing in the height of summer. In the
Maremma
The Maremma (, ; from Latin , "maritime and) is a coastal area of western central Italy, bordering the Tyrrhenian Sea. It includes much of south-western Tuscany and part of northern Lazio. It was formerly mostly marshland, often malarial, but ...
, on the Italian westcoast, they ventured into the marshes in search of novel plants. Soon after, Cordus exhibited what may have been the symptoms of
malaria. He was also hit on the leg by a horse, causing great pain, and possibly an infection. The party brought the feverish Cordus to
Rome, where they arrived on September 1 or 2. When Cordus showed signs of improvement, the rest embarked on a trip to Naples. Cordus, aged 29, died in their absence, on the evening of September 25. He was interred at
Santa Maria dell'Anima, the German Catholic church in central Rome.
Legacy
Throughout his short life, Cordus travelled extensively, visited many universities, and was widely acclaimed by his colleagues and other associates. He was an impressive linguist, and also spoke eloquently on philosophy. As a botanist, he observed with a breadth and depth that surpassed most of his contemporaries; as a scientist, his methodology was systematic and thorough.
After the death of Cordus,
Conrad Gessner published a considerable amount of Cordus' remaining unpublished work, including ''De Extractione'' (which featured Cordus' ether synthesis method), ''Historia stirpium'' and ''Sylva'' in 1561.
Notes
References
*
Valerius Cordusat th
a
Só Biografias
* Groll, E. K. (Hrsg.)
Biografien der Entomologen der Welt: Datenbank. Version 4.15 : Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, 2010
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordus, Valerius
1515 births
1544 deaths
16th-century German botanists
German entomologists
16th-century German physicians
Deaths from malaria
University of Wittenberg faculty
16th-century German writers
16th-century German male writers