Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia or Ioannis Philippi Ingrassiae (1510–1580) was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
physician, student of
Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius (Latinized from Andries van Wezel) () was a 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, ''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric of the human body'' '' ...
, professor at the
University of Naples
The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...
, ''Protomedicus'' of Sicily and a major figure in the history of medicine and human
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
.
Early life and education
Ingrassia was born in
Regalbuto
Regalbuto (Latin: Ameselum; Sicilian: ''Regarbutu'') is a ''comune'' in the province of Enna, Sicily, southern Italy.
There is an annual cattle fair held in the month of August.
History
Regalbuto may be the ancient town of Amaselos, which wa ...
, Sicily. His family was well-educated and Ingrassia received a classical education that included the study of Latin and Greek. From 1532 to 1537 he attended the
University of Padua
The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...
studying under the famous anatomist Vesalius and leaving with a degree in medicine. He then worked as personal physician to nobleman near Palermo.
University of Naples
In 1544 he became professor of anatomy and medicine at the University of Naples. He conducted dissection studies and recorded his findings in the book ''In Galeni librum de ossibus doctissima et expectatissima commentaria'', a critical commentary on
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one ...
's ''De Ossibus'' that was published posthumously in 1603. He gave the first distinct account of the true configuration of the
sphenoid and the
ethmoid bone
The ethmoid bone (; from grc, ἡθμός, hēthmós, sieve) is an unpaired bone in the skull that separates the nasal cavity from the brain. It is located at the roof of the nose, between the two orbits. The cubical bone is lightweight due to a ...
as well as several other bones of the head, and has the merit of first describing (1546) the third ear bone, the
stapes
The ''stapes'' or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other animals which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the foo ...
.
[
His work ''De tumoribus praeter naturam'' (1553) contains what is probably the first description of scarlet fever: he reported on a disease of children different from measles that caused a red rash all over the body, however he didn't mention the common symptom of a sore throat. The book also contains a detailed study of the ]penis
A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...
and the mechanism of its erection. In addition, it contains a description of 163 different types of tumor
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
s.[
]
Palermo
In 1556 he was recruited to Palermo as lecturer of medicine and anatomy, working at the monastery of Saint Domenicus. The following year he was asked by the Sicilian Senate to help the government manage an outbreak of pandemic influenza that arrived in Sicily through Palermo. He proposed the a system for managing contagious fevers would aid in epidemic responses. His fame increased considerably in 1562 when he was able to heal a persistent wound of the Duke of Terranova. In 1563 he became ''Protomedicus'' (chief medical administrator) of Sicily. In this capacity, he emphasized the continuing education of physicians and insisted that medicine be treated as a scientific discipline that collected objective knowledge to ensure optimal treatments.
He established Sicily's first Board of Health and Sanitary Code.
His 1560 work ''Trattato assai bello et utile dei doi mostri nati in Palermo in differenti tempi'' contains the detailed description of two cases of Siamese twins born in Palermo.
To combat endemic malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, he ordered the draining of surrounding swamps and instituted isolation hospitals for contagious patients.
He managed the outbreak of the plague in Sicily in 1575/1576 by ordering measures of hygiene and separating suspected, confirmed and convalescing cases in different hospital wards. In his 1576 book ''Informatione del pestifero, et contagioso morbo'' he described the disease, traced its outbreak in Sicily, and was the first to recommend public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
countermeasures.
In 1578 he wrote ''Methodus dandi relationes pro mutilatis torquendis aut a tortura exusandi'', an evaluation, from an anatomical standpoint, of the contemporary methods of torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...
employed by the Roman Inquisition
The Roman Inquisition, formally the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, respons ...
. The work was not published until 1914.
He died in 1580 in Palermo and was buried there in the Church of San Domenico.
Further reading
*
References
External links
"Ingrassia, Giovanni Filippo."
Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com.
The Scientific Revolution, by Robert A. Hatch.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingrassias, Giovanni Filippo
1510 births
1580 deaths
People from Regalbuto
Physicians from Sicily
Italian anatomists