Giovanni Alessandro Brambilla, Baron of

Carpiano Carpiano ( Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan. Carpiano borders the following municipalities: San Giuliano Milanese, Locate di Triulzi, ...

(15 April 1728 – 30 July 1800 in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

) was a personal physician of Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

and the first director of the

Josephinian Military Academy of Surgery The Collegium Medico-Chirurgicum Josephinum or Josephinian Military Academy of Surgery (simply Josephinum for short) was an academy of military medicine founded in Vienna by Emperor Joseph II in 1784. In 1874 its functions were transferred to oth ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Brambilla was born in

San Zenone al Po San Zenone al Po is a ''comune'' in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula t ...

near Pavia, and studied at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

. After five years of internship at San Matteo Hospital, he joined in the Austrian army as assistant surgeon. He rose in the ranks, and by 1779, was sole supervisor of the Austrian military health system, Imperial Protosurgeon under Joseph II, Knight of the Holy Roman Empire, Aulic Counsel. His service to the emperor granted him a feudal title as lord of Carpiano. In 1785, he founded the Medical-Surgical Academy of Vienna (better known as the ''Josephinium''). He helped recruit

Antonio Scarpa Antonio Scarpa (9 May 1752 – 31 October 1832) was an Italian anatomist and professor. Biography Scarpa was born to an impoverished family in the frazione of Lorenzaga, Motta di Livenza, Veneto. An uncle, who was a member of the priesthood, g ...

to the chair of Anatomy at the University of Pavia. After the death of Joseph II, Brambilla returned to Pavia in 1795 and lived the rest of his life there. After the Napoleonic victory of Marengo, Brambilla was travelling back to Vienna when he died.University of Pavia History Museum

References

1728 births 1800 deaths Physicians from Pavia 18th-century Italian physicians Italian surgeons 18th-century Austrian physicians University of Pavia alumni Knights of the Holy Roman Empire {{italy-med-bio-stub