Archiatrists

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Homer , a doctor (archiater) and the god Mercurius . Medieval copy of a late antique model ( Medicina antiqua ), around 1250

Archiatros ( Greek  ἀρχιατρός “chief physician”, “senior physician”), Latin form archiater , was the ancient name for senior physicians, especially court physicians or personal physicians. It is the origin of the German word " doctor ".

The name is first found in an inscription on Delos from the 2nd century BC. For the personal physician of King Antiochus VII . In the Roman Empire, from the 3rd century AD at the latest, the imperial personal physicians were officially called archiatri Palatini ; they had already been informally referred to as ἀρχιατροί .

The title of archiater was also held by doctors paid by the state (archiatri populares) , who were entrusted with the supervision of medical practice as well as with the instruction and examination of prospective doctors and formed a kind of medical college (ordo archiatrorum) . Such a college existed in every sizable city.

Modern use

Burkhard Mithoff (1501–1565), archiater of Landgrave Philip I and the dukes Erich I and Erich II.

In Finland , the title of Archiatrist (arkkiatri) is the highest medical honorific title in the country. It is awarded by the President of the Republic and is only ever worn by a single doctor. The most famous Finnish archiatist was Arvo Ylppö .

In the early modern period, among other things, the French, English, Danish and Swedish royal courts used the title “Archiater” for the royal personal physician. Archiatrists also worked at the Russian Tsar's court. In Sweden he was awarded a total of 36 outstanding doctors from the beginning of the 17th century to 1856. In the Vatican , the Pope's personal physician traditionally bears the title of archiatrist (archiatra pontificio) .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Inscriptions de Délos , No. 1547 .
  2. ↑ Arno Forsius: Arkkiatrin arvonimi ja Suomen arkkiatrit (The title "Archiater" and Archiater Finland). First: Suomen Lääkärilehti ( Finnisches Ärzteblatt) 1992, No. 9. pp. 845–849. Updated version online (in Finnish)

See also