Theodor Kerckring or Dirk Kerckring (sometimes Kerckeringh or Kerckerinck) (baptized 22 July 1638 – 2 November 1693) was a Dutch

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 chemical physician. Kerckring was born as the son of the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

merchant and VOC captain Dirck Kerckring and Margaretha Bas (daughter of Dirck Bas, a former mayor of Amsterdam). In the second half of the 1650s he was a pupil at the Latin School in Amsterdam of Franciscus van den Enden (at the same time as the philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza), before studying medicine at Leiden University under

Franciscus Sylvius Franciscus Sylvius (, ; born Franz de le Boë; 15 March 1614 – 19 November 1672) was a Dutch physician and scientist (chemist, physiologist and anatomist) who was an early champion of Descartes', Van Helmont's and William Harvey's work ...

. Around 1660 he was painted by Jurgen Ovens. In 1667 he was visited by

Cosimo III de' Medici Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder s ...

, interested in new developments in science and curious to see his collection of anatomical objects. Several sources reveal that Kerckring remained on good terms with Van den Enden, whose daughter Clara Maria he married in 1671. In order to marry the 27-year-old woman, who had a limp, Kerckring became a Roman Catholic. She helped her father teach

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 ...

; there is a famous but unsubstantiated story that Spinoza loved her unreciprocatedly. Although further details of his early life are sketchy, it is known that he spent much of his medical career prior to 1675 in

at Singel. Afterwards he travelled throughout continental Europe, settling in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in 1678. In 1683 he invited his old friend

Niels Stensen Niels is a male given name, equivalent to Nicholas, which is common in Denmark, Belgium, Norway (formerly) and the Netherlands. The Norwegian and Swedish variant is Nils. The name is a developed short form of Nicholas or Greek Nikolaos, after Sain ...

, once one of the leading anatomists but converted to Catholicism. Stensen, becoming a priest in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and bishop in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, needed new position. Kerckring helped Stensen with an appointment in Hamburg and Stensen asked the Duke of Tuscany,

to help Kerckring with a post. Then both men were able to share experiences and ideas. KerckringSpicilegium1

Kerckring is remembered for his ''Spicilegium anatomicum'', which is an

anatomical 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 ...

atlas of clinical observations, medical curiosities,

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 ...

discoveries along with general anatomical information. He is credited with describing "Kerckring's ossicles", which is an occasional ossification centre in the occipital bone that appears around the 16th week of

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

. He also provided a comprehensive description of the folds of the mucous membrane of the

small intestine The small intestine or small bowel is an organ (anatomy), organ in the human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract where most of the #Absorption, absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intes ...

. These anatomical folds go by several different names, including the " valves of Kerckring", "Kerckring's folds", ''plicae circulares'' and ''valvulae conniventes''. Kerckring used a microscope made by Spinoza.

Works

* ''Theodori Kerckringii ... Opera Omnia Anatomica : Continentia Specilegivm Anatomicvm, Osteogeniam Foetvvm Nec Non Anthropogeniæ Ichnographiam; Accuratissimis Figuris æri incisis illustrata. - Editio secunda. - Lugduni Batavorum'' * ''Commentarius in currum triumphalem Antimonii Basilii Valentini, a se latinitate donatum. - Amstelodami: Sumptibus Andreæ Frisii'', 1671 * ''The Triumphal Chariot Of Antimony'' by Basilius Valentinus. With the commentary of Theodore Kerckringius, being the Latin version publ. at Amsterdam, 1685, transl. into English and German

References

External links

The Triumphal Chariot Of Antimony

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerckring, Theodor 1638 births 1693 deaths 17th-century Dutch physicians 17th-century Dutch anatomists Fellows of the Royal Society Leiden University alumni Scientists from Amsterdam Physicians from Hamburg