Franz Zacharias Ermerins (also Franciscus, Frans, François) (8 November 1808 in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland c ...

– 29 May 1871 in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

) was a Dutch physician and medical editor whose literary work encompassed

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...

and ancient Greek medicine. He was born into an eminent

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

family in Middelburg. In 1826, he graduated from the Latin school there. After the outbreak of the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

while he was a medical student at

Leyden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

, he joined the ''Leidse Jagers'', a volunteer company of soldiers drawn from the Leyden student body, and participated in the Ten Days' Campaign. Upon his safe return, he continued his studies. He received a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

on November 3, 1832, with his thesis ''de Hippocratis doctrina a prognostice oriunda''. He returned to his native city and practiced as a doctor. He married Barta Antonia van der Feen, with whom he had several children. His practice soon prospered, but he continued his study of his beloved Greek doctors, to which he devoted all the time he could spare from his daytime occupation. In the meantime he was appointed President of the Provincial Medical Commission and Secretary of the Zeeland Provincial Society. In 1839 his love for the classics induced him to move to Paris, to work full-time at the royal library on transcribing and organizing of ancient manuscripts, in particular those of

Aretaeus Aretaeus ( grc-gre, Ἀρεταῖος) is one of the most celebrated of the ancient Greek physicians. Little is known of his life. He presumably was a native or at least a citizen of Cappadocia, a Roman province in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey ...

. The next year this resulted in the publication of his ''Anecdota medica Graeca'', followed soon after by additional works. Upon the death of Professor S. E. Stratingh, he was appointed in his place at the university of

. He took up this appointment on September 12, 1844, with an inaugural lecture entitled ''de veteris medicorum interpretis munere a medicis non recusando''. He lectured on a wide variety of topics in medicine, due to the lack of a sufficient number of professors, a situation which, as Ermerins wrote to a good friend, "benefits neither professors nor students". Beginning in 1852, however, he limited himself to general pathology, pathological anatomy and histology, and clinical courses in the Academic hospital. In spite of this busy schedule, he completed after ten years his main work ''Hippocratis et aliorum medicorum veterum reliquiae'', which was published in three volumes by the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

, of which he had been a member since 1855. Near the end of his life he was threatened with total blindness; he died of typhoid May 27, 1871. The French scholar

Charles Daremberg Charles Victor Daremberg (14 March 1817, Dijon – 24 October 1872) was a French librarian, medical historian and classical philologist. He began his medical studies in Dijon, later relocating to Paris, where he served as librarian of the Acad ...

called him "one of the glories of medical erudition."

Bibliography

* Dissertatio ''de Hippocratis doctrina a prognostice oriunda.'' L.B. 1832 4°.
Hathi Trust
) * ''Anecdota medica Graeca.'' Ibid. 1840
Collection Medic@Google Books
) * ''Hippocratis liber de victus ratione in morbis acutis.'' Accedunt ''Observationes criticae in Soranum Ephesium de arte obstetrica morbisque mulierum.'' L.B. 1841. 8°.
Google Books
) * Oratio ''de Veterum medicorum interpretis munere a medicis non recusando'' (in Annal. Acad. anni 1844). 4°. * ''Aretaei Cappadocis quae supersunt''. Recensuit et illustravit Franciscus Zacharias Ermerins. Utrecht 1847.
Collection Medic@Hathi Trust
* Oratio ''de perpetuis materiae et formae in vita mutabilitate ac motu.'' Groningae 1851 8°. (et in Annal. Acad. 1851 4°).
Google Books
) * ''Hippocratis et aliorum veterum reliquiae.'' Mandato Acad. Reg. Disc. quae Amstelodami est. Traj. ad Rhen. 1859–1864, 3 vol. 4°.
Collection Medic@
) *''Continuatio epimetri'' (ipsum ''epimetrum'' invenitur in Hippocrat. edit. vol. III. p. XCII- CXLI) ''ad editionem Hippocratis. Accedunt nonnulla ad Aretaeum''; Traj. ad Rhen 1867.
Collection Medic@
) * Oratio ''de vetere medicina graeca ante aetatem Alexandrinam'' (in ''Annal. Acad.'' 1865–1866).
Google Books
) *''Sorani Ephesii liber de muliebribus affectionibus.'' Traj. ad Rhen. 1869. 8°.
Google Books
) * ''Epistola critica ad Soranum a se editum. Accedit de vita Ermerinsii editoris epilogus.'' Utrecht 1872.
Google Books
)

References

* This article incorporates material from C.J. Matthes,
Levensbericht F.Z. Ermerins
'' Jaarboek, 1873, Amsterdam, pp. 17–19, now in the public domain in the EU and the US

External links

Life and Writings of Dr. Ermerins
the substance of Daremberg's account in English translation
Ermerins' WorldCat bibliography

Ermerins at the Netherlands Biography Portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ermerins, Franz Z. 1808 births 1871 deaths Dutch pathologists Dutch classical scholars Dutch medical historians Leiden University alumni Academic staff of the University of Groningen People from Middelburg, Zeeland Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences