Johann Vesling (; 1598 – 30 August 1649) was a German

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

from

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. He published a major illustrated work on human anatomy ''Syntagma Anatomicum'' (1641).

Life and work

Vesling was born in Minden, Westphalia. His Catholic family fled to Vienna to escape religious persecution. It is thought that he studied at the University of Leiden from 1619. He trained in botany and medicine but he received a degree from the University of Venice. In 1628 he was applied as an "Incisor" at the medical college in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. In the same year he traveled to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, where he was the personal physician of the Venice consul, and also conducted extensive studies of regional flora (particularly

medicinal plants Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

). In 1632 he became professor of

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

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 ...

, where he was an instructor to

Thomas Bartholin Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. His popularity however was the cause of his downfall. Later in his career, he succeeded

Prospero Alpini Prospero Alpini (also known as Prosper Alpinus, Prospero Alpinio and Latinized as Prosperus Alpinus) (23 November 15536 February 1617) was a Venetian physician and botanist. He travelled around Egypt and served as the fourth prefect in charge of ...

(died 1616) as director of the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

. He was made a physician to statesman Alvise Cornaro and accompanied Cornaro to Cairo in 1628. In Egypt he began to conduct botanical studies which led in 1640 to the publication of an annotated edition of ''De plantis Aegypti'' first published by Prospero Alpini in 1592, and a work on balsam published in 1644. Veslingius returned to Padua in 1633. Vesling is best remembered for the 1641 publication of ''Syntagma anatomicum, publicis dissectionibus, in auditorum usum, diligenter aptatum'', a popular textbook based on his anatomical dissections in Padua. In this work he provided an early discussion of the human

lymphatic system The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphoid organs, lympha ...

, and included the earliest sketches of the lacteals in humans. Vesling also performed important studies of

blood circulation In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart an ...

, and was one of the first physicians to describe the brain's

circle of Willis The circle of Willis (also called Willis' circle, loop of Willis, cerebral arterial circle, and Willis polygon) is a circulatory anastomosis that supplies blood to the brain and surrounding structures in reptiles, birds and mammals, including huma ...

. Vesling's work influenced the Japanese physician Touyou Yamawaki (1705-1762) and the English scientist

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...

References

External links

*
Syntagma anatomicum
(1647)
Heirs of Hippocrates
German anatomists 1598 births 1649 deaths People from Minden Academic staff of the University of Padua Physicians from the Holy Roman Empire {{Germany-med-bio-stub