Herman Diedrich Spöring (physician)
Herman Diedrich Spöring (born October 19, 1701 Stockholm , Sweden ; † June 17, 1747 Turku ) was a Swedish medic of German descent and from 1728 to 1747 professor at the academy in Åbo ( Turku in Finnish ) in Finland , which was then part of Sweden.
Life
Herman Diedrich Spöring was born on October 19, 1701 as the son of the couple Eberhard Christian Spöring , deputy headmaster of the German School in Stockholm, and Elisabeth Benedicta Burmeister in the German St. Gertrud Congregation in Stockholm.
From 1718 he studied medicine with the Swedish anatomist Olof Rudbeck and Professor Lars Roberg at Uppsala University , then later continued his studies privately in Stockholm under Magnus von Bromell . In 1723 he traveled to the Netherlands to study at the University of Leiden under Professor Herman Boerhaave for two years, followed by studies in hospitals in Paris . In 1725 he went to Germany and got to know the mining conditions in the Harz Mountains . Back in the Netherlands, he was awarded a doctorate in medicine on May 18, 1726 at what was then the University of Harderwijk . In 1727 he returned to Sweden in debt.
In 1728 the position of professor of medicine at the Åbo Academy became vacant and Spöring was appointed to succeed the late Peter Elfving . He held this position until his death. Spöring became a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1730 and a member of the Royal Scientific Society in 1742 . In 1746 he also assumed responsibility for managing the Academy's library when he was appointed Rector of the Academy.
In his medical work and teaching, Spöring followed the line of his Dutch teacher Boerhaave . Spöring's lectures were popular, and although dissections did not meet with public approval in those days, he defended them with a presentation for medical benefit and, in 1730, carried out the fourth public dissection of a corpse by agreement. He also made sure that a hospital was set up in the city, which had not existed before. In 1737 Spöring published a book in which he described how one could protect oneself from smallpox; but his publications were limited.
Spröring was very interested in all natural sciences, especially mineralogy. During his student days he had built up a considerable collection of minerals, which he bequeathed to the Academy after his death.
Spöring died on June 17, 1747 in Turku after a long illness.
family
In 1732 Spöring married Hedvig Ulrika Meurman , with whom he had eight children, but only two of them survived, a daughter and a son. The son Herman Diedrich Spöring (1733–1771) became a draftsman and naturalist, he accompanied Captain James Cook as a research assistant on his first South Sea exploration trip and died on the return voyage.
Web links
- Arno Forsius : Herman Diedrich Spöring. Svenskt biografiskt lexikon , accessed March 17, 2016 (Swedish).
- Arno Forsius : Spöring, Herman Diedrich (1701–1747) - lääketieteen professori ja luonnontieteilijä . R. Marjomaa , accessed March 17, 2016 (Finnish).
Individual evidence
- ↑ German St. Gertruds Congregation. Svenska kyrkan , accessed March 17, 2016 .
- ^ Johan Jakob Tengström : Chronologiska Förteckningar och Anteckningar öfver Finska Universitets Fordna Procancellerer . GO Wasenius , Helsingfors 1836, p. 207 (Swedish, online [accessed March 17, 2016]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Spöring, Herman Diedrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Spöring, Herman Diedrik |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish physician and professor at the Åbo Academy |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 19, 1701 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stockholm , Sweden |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 17, 1747 |
| Place of death | Turku |