Giovanni da Vigo (1450–1525) was an Italian

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. He studied under Battista di Rapallo, surgeon to the

Marquis of Saluzzo The marquises (also marquesses or margraves) of Saluzzo were the medieval feudal rulers city of Saluzzo (today part of Piedmont, Italy) and its countryside from 1175 to 1549. Originally counts, the family received in ''feudum'' the city from the ...

. He spent his early years of practice in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and
statue of him can be found in front of the old Civic hospital
in

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiavar ...

. In 1495 Vigo moved to Savona and became acquainted with Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. When the Cardinal was made

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

in 1503, he took Vigo with him to Rome, appointing him as his official surgeon. He was with the Pope in the attack on

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

and cured the Pope of a nodule on his hand. In 1514 Vigo published ''Practica in arte chirurgica copiosa'' a comprehensive work on surgery composed of nine books and written in Latin. He dedicated it to his son, Luigi. In it Vigo wrote about anatomy, medications and the treatment of apostome, ulcers, wounds, diseases and fractures and dislocations. The book on wounds included one of the earliest discussions of the treatment of wounds caused by

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

. He assumed that the victims of such wounds were poisoned by

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

and recommended treatment with boiling oil in order to counteract the poison.

Ambroise Paré Ambroise Paré (c. 1510 – 20 December 1590) was a French barber surgeon who served in that role for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology and a p ...

in 1536, as surgeon to colonel-general Mareschal de Montjean discovered that such treatment was counter-productive and recommends different treatments. The book on diseases discussed the French Disease (which is generally equated with modern-day Syphilis). In 1517, Vigo published ''Practica compendiosa'' which covered most of the same material as his ''Practica'' in a much more condensed form. Vigo's two books were commonly printed together after that and often along with another compendium of surgery by

Mariano Santo Mariano Santo (1488 in Barletta – 1577 in Rome) was a prominent surgeon of the 16th century. He was born and raised in Barletta in 1488 and relocated to Rome in 1510 to study medicine. Following this, he became a surgeon and taught at Bologna ...

who said he had been a student of Vigo's and who would later become famous for his work on the treatment of bladder stones. Although he is generally known today only for his mistaken treatment of gunshot wounds, Vigo's first book on surgery was enormously successful. It was translated into English, Latin, Italian and French and reprinted dozens of times in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries making him one of the best known surgeons of his day.

Works

* ''Practica in arte chirurgica copiosa'' (Rome, 1514). The book went through numerous editions and translations. The 1519 Latin edition is on lin

* ''Practica compendiosa'' (Rome, 1517). Often printed with the ''Practica.'' * An English translation by

Bartholomew Traheron Bartholomew Traheron (1510?–1558?) was an English Protestant writer and Marian exile. Life Born about 1510, he is said to have been a native of Cornwall. Bartholomew was early left an orphan, and was brought up under the care of Richard Tracy ...

entitled ''‘The moste Excellent Workes of Chirurgerye made and set forthe by maister John Vigon, heed chirurgien of our tyme in Italie'' was published in 1543.

Notes

External links

Encyclopedia.com entry on Vigo

DOI.org

Giovanni Vigo's Statue
1450 births 1525 deaths 16th-century Italian physicians {{Italy-med-bio-stub

Works

See also

Notes

External links