Bernhard Siegfried Albinus

Bernhard Siegfried Albinus

Illustration from Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani

Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (born February 24, 1697 in Frankfurt (Oder) , † September 9, 1770 in Leiden ) was a German anatomist and surgeon as well as the author and editor of medical publications. He is considered one of the most important descriptive anatomists of the 18th century.

Live and act

He was born in Frankfurt (Oder), where his father Bernhard Friedrich Albinus worked as a professor of medicine. When Bernhard Siegfried Albinus was five years old, his father took over a position in Leiden in 1702 and the family then moved. At the age of twelve he was taught medicine at the University of Leiden , where he attended lectures by his father, Johannes Jacobus Rau , Govard Bidloo , Frederik Dekkers and Herman Boerhaave . After finishing his studies in 1718 he went to Paris at the request of his father ; here he should study anatomy and surgery . There in Paris, where he worked under the guidance of Sébastien Vaillant , Jacob Winslow and others, he devoted himself particularly to the study of anatomy and botany. This stay ended as early as 1719 when he returned to Leiden. At the university there he was on June 29, 1719 lecturer for anatomy and surgery as Rau's assistant, and for this purpose gave the introductory speech de Anatomia comparata on October 2, 1719 . On September 19 of the same year he was made a doctor of medicine Honoris causa (honorary).

When his father died in 1721, at the age of 24, he was called to take over his position as professor. As a professor of anatomy and surgery, he encouraged his students to undertake their own studies on objects and, in addition, to work through previous works on the subject. Soon he became one of the most famous teachers in the field of anatomy in Europe.

In 1745 Albinus became a professor of practical medicine, which at the same time entailed the task of teaching primarily physiology . Albinus received further offers to take over a chair in Halle (Saale) and Göttingen . He turned down both offers and remained in Leiden until his death in 1770. Albinus also took part in the organizational tasks of the Leiden University and was rector of the Alma Mater in 1726/27 and 1738/39 .

Albinus also wrote works on anatomy that were illustrated by the Dutch artist Jan Wandelaar . His main work is Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani from 1747, which is considered the most important work of the 18th century on human anatomy.

In 1764 he was elected a member of the Royal Society . Since 1753 he was an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences .

Fonts

• Index Suppellectilis Anatomicae, quam Acad. Lugd. Batav. legavit JJ Rau, c. Tab. Leiden 1725
• as editor: Andreas Vesalius : A. Vesalii Opera omnia Anatomica et Chirurgica cur. Boerhaveet Albino, cum fig. Leiden 1725, 2nd vol.
• Libellus de ossibus corporis humani. Suffering 1726
• Historia musculorum corporis humani Leiden 1734
• as editor William Harvey : Gulielmi Harvei […] Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus […] Exercitationes duae anatomicae de circulatione sanguinis ad Joannem Riolanum Filium . Johann van Kerckhem, Leiden 1736 ( Google Books ).
• Diss. De arteriis et venis intestinorum hominis, cum icon. col. Leiden 1737
• Descriptio intestinorum hominis, cum icon. Leiden 1737
• Diss. De sede et causa coloris Aethiopum et caeterorum hominum. Leiden 1737
• as editor: Girolamo Fabrizio : Hieronymi Fabricii from Aquapendente philosophi ac medici […] Opera omnia anatomica et physiologica. Johann van Kerckhem, Leiden 1738.
• Explicatio Tabularum anatomicarum B. Eustaechii. Leiden 1744
• Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani. Leiden 1747 ( Historical Anatomies on the Web. US National Library of Medicine )
• Tabulae VII uteri mulieris gravidae, cum jam parturerit, mortuae. Leiden 1748 and 1751
• Icones ossium fetus humani. o. O. 1751
• Tabulae ossium humanorum. Suffering 1753
• Annotationes Academicae. Leiden 1754–1768, 2nd vol.
• Tabulae vasis chyliferi cum v. azyga, arteriis intercostalibus aliisque vicinis partibus. Leiden 1757

literature

• Magnus Schmid:  Albinus, Bernhard Siegfried. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 150 ( digitized version ).
• Evert Dirk Baumann : Albinus (Bernhard Siegfried) . In: Petrus Johannes Blok , Philipp Christiaan Molhuysen (Ed.): Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek . Part 4. N. Israel, Amsterdam 1974, Sp. 22–24 (Dutch, knaw.nl / dbnl.org - first edition: AW Sijthoff, Leiden 1918, reprinted unchanged).
• Urs Boschung : Albinuns, Bernhard Siegfried. In: Werner E. Gerabek u. a. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of medical history. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 30.
• Hendrik Punt: Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697-1770). On 'human nature'. Anatomical and physiological ideas in eighteenth century. Leiden 1893.

Web links

• Neurotree: Bernhard Siegfried Albinus Details and Family Tree