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Girolamo Fracastoro

 
Girolamo Fracastoro

 
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Girolamo Fracastoro
 
 
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Girolamo Fracastoro (Fracastorius) (1478-August 8, 1553) was an Venetian
Republic of Venice

The Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice . It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797....
 physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
, scholar (in mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
, geography
Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth"....
 and astronomy
Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
), poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
 and atomist.

Born of an ancient family in Verona
Verona

Verona is a city in Veneto, northern Italy, one of the seven provincial capitals in the region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in north-eastern Italy, thanks to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient amphitheatre built by the Romans....
, and educated at Padua
Padua

Padua is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 ....
 where at 19 he was appointed professor
Professor

The meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the Academic department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual....
 at the University
University of Padua

The University of Padua , located in Padua, Italy, was founded in 1222. It is among the earliest of the university and the third oldest in Italy....
. On account of his eminence in the practice of medicine, he was elected physician of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered one of the Church's most important councils, it convened in Trento between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods....
. A bronze statue was erected in his honor by the citizens of Padua, while his native city commemorated their great compatriot by a marble statue.






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Girolamo Fracastoro (Fracastorius) (1478-August 8, 1553) was an Venetian
Republic of Venice

The Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice . It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797....
 physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
, scholar (in mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
, geography
Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth"....
 and astronomy
Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
), poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
 and atomist.

Born of an ancient family in Verona
Verona

Verona is a city in Veneto, northern Italy, one of the seven provincial capitals in the region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in north-eastern Italy, thanks to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient amphitheatre built by the Romans....
, and educated at Padua
Padua

Padua is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 ....
 where at 19 he was appointed professor
Professor

The meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the Academic department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual....
 at the University
University of Padua

The University of Padua , located in Padua, Italy, was founded in 1222. It is among the earliest of the university and the third oldest in Italy....
. On account of his eminence in the practice of medicine, he was elected physician of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered one of the Church's most important councils, it convened in Trento between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods....
. A bronze statue was erected in his honor by the citizens of Padua, while his native city commemorated their great compatriot by a marble statue. He lived and practised in his hometown. In 1546 he proposed that epidemic diseases are caused by transferable tiny particles or "spores" that could transmit infection
Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host resources to multiply ....
 by direct or indirect contact or even without contact over long distances. In his writing, the "spores" of disease may refer to chemicals rather than to any living entities.

"I call fomites [from the Latin fomes, meaning "tinder"] such things as clothes, linen, etc., which although not themselves corrupt, can nevertheless foster the essential seeds of the contagion and thus cause infection."

His theory remained influential for nearly three centuries, before being displaced by germ theory.

The name for syphilis
Syphilis

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact, although there are examples of congenital syphilis via transmission from mother to child in utero....
 is derived from Fracastoro's 1530 epic poem in three books, Syphilis sive morbus gallicus ("Syphilis or The French Disease"), about a shepherd named Syphilus. The poem suggests using mercury and "guaiaco
Oil of guaiac

Oil of guaiac is a fragrance used in soap. It comes from the Bulnesia sarmientoi tree .Oil of guaiac is produced through steam distillation of a mixture of wood and sawdust from palo santo....
" as a cure. His 1546 book (De contagione -- "On Contagion") also gave the first description for typhus
Typhus

Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters. The causative organism is Rickettsia prowazekii, transmitted by the human body louse ....
. The collected works of Fracastoro appeared for the first time in 1555.

Fracastoro's landmarks in Verona

Fracastoro's statue. An ancient statue (1559) dedicated to Fracastoro is standing on a beautiful arch in the central Piazza dei Signori,in Verona
Verona

Verona is a city in Veneto, northern Italy, one of the seven provincial capitals in the region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in north-eastern Italy, thanks to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient amphitheatre built by the Romans....
, just behind the monument to Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri

Durante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante Alighieri, was a Florence poet of the Middle Ages. His Magnum opus, the Divine Comedy , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature....
. On the basement, the following inscription can be read: "HIER FRACASTORIO \ PAULLI PHILIPPI F \ EX PUBLICA AUCTORITATE \ DICATA \ AN SAL MDLIX". According to a popular legend the stone ball Fracastoro keeps in his right hand, symbolizing the world, will fall on the first honourable person walking under the arch. As a matter of fact, many hundreds of people pass every day under the arch but the ball, after more than four Centuries, still remains in its place.

Works

  • Syphilidis, sive Morbi Gallici (1530)
  • Di Vini Temperatura (1534)
  • Homocentricorum sive de Stellis, de Causis Criticorum Dierum Libellus (1535)
  • Homocentrica (1538)
  • De Contagione et Contagiosis Morbis (1546)
  • Syphilis sive de morbo gallico (1539, poem)


External links

  • [https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/week4b.html| Excerpts of an English translation of Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus]