Jan Jesenius, also written as Jessenius (, , ; December 27, 1566 – June 21, 1621), was a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Life

Early years

He was from an old noble family, the House of Jeszenszky, originally from the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. He presented himself in his own works as ''eques Ungarus'' ("Hungarian

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

"). According to scholar publications, he had Slovak, Polish or GermanBalázs Trencsényi, Márton Zászkaliczky: ''Whose Love of Which Country?'', Brill, 201

/ref> roots. His father, Boldizsár Jeszenszky de Nagyjeszen, left

Turóc County Turóc (Hungarian language, Hungarian, historically also spelled ''Túrócz''), , /''comitatus Thurociensis'', ) was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-we ...

(today the Turiec region in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) because of the Ottomans' military campaign against Upper Hungary and settled down in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

in 1555. He married Marta Schülerin, who came from a wealthy German bourgeois family. Jesenius was born in Breslau (Wrocław), where he studied at the Elisabeth gymnasium. From 1583 he studied at the University of Wittenberg, from 1585 at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, and from 1588 at the University of Padua.

Professional achievements

His most important philosophical work was ''Zoroaster'' (1593), a work of universal philosophy which attempted to recover the lost wisdom of the ancients. From 1593 Jesenius was the physician of the Prince of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, and from 1594 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 ...

at the University of Wittenberg. After 1600 he settled down in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

as professor and anatomical consultant for Rudolf II, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor. In 1600 he attracted considerable public interest by performing a public

autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...

in Prague. (His notes on the autopsy were published in 2005 by Karolinum, a publishing house of Charles University of Prague.) In 1617 he was elected rector of Charles University of Prague.

Political career

He was also a diplomat and orator, and after the dethroning of Habsburgs in the Crown of Bohemia, he took several diplomatic missions for Bohemian estates and for the newly elected king Frederick of the Palatinate. In 1618, Jesenius was arrested in Pressburg (Bratislava) after being sent as a deputy by the Bohemian estates, and was held in a prison of

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. ...

. In December, he was released in exchange for two Habsburg captives. There is a legend that, before his release, he wrote the inscription ''IMMMM'' on the wall of his prison cell. Ferdinand explained this as ''Imperator Mathias Mense Martio Morietur'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for " Emperor Mathias will die in the month of March"), and he wrote another prophecy next to it: ''Iesseni, Mentiris, Mala Morte Morieris'' ("Jesenius, you lie, you will die a horrible death"). Both predictions came true: Emperor Mathias died in March 1619, and Jesenius was arrested after the defeat of King Frederick of Bohemia by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1620 ( Battle of White Mountain) and executed, along with 26 other Bohemian estates leaders, on the Old Town Square in 1621.

Legacy

Commemoration

Jesenius was honored during the 450th anniversary of his birth (2016) by a postage stamp jointly issued by Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, & Slovakia.

Notes

References

* : Doktor Jesenius, Szlovákiai Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó-Móra Ferenc Könyvkiadó, Bratislava(Pozsony)-Budapest, 1958. * Ľudo Zúbek: Doktor Jesenius, Móra Ferenc Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 1966. * Ruttkay László: Jeszenszky (Jessenius) János és kora 1566–1621, Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum és Könyvtár, Budapest, 1971. * Philippe Malgouyres, La Science de l’émerveillement. Artistes et intellectuels à la cour de Rodolphe II (1552-1612), Paris, Mare & Martin, 2025, 978-2-36222-125-5 ¨ {{DEFAULTSORT:Jesenius, Jan 1566 births 1621 deaths 16th-century physicians from Bohemia 17th-century physicians from Bohemia Philosophers Academic staff of Charles University Leipzig University alumni Physicians from Wrocław Jeszenszky family University of Padua alumni People from the Habsburg monarchy