Pieter Pauw (
latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: Petrus Pavius), (2 August 1564 – 1 August 1617) was a Dutch
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
and
anatomist
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 its ...
. He was a student of
Hieronymus Fabricius
Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente, also known as Girolamo Fabrizio or Hieronymus Fabricius (20 May 1533 – 21 May 1619), was a pioneering anatomist and surgeon known in medical science as "The Father of Embryology."
Life and accomplishments ...
. He was the first Anatomy Professor at
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
.
Biography
He was the son of Pieter Pauw Adriaanszoon who settled in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, then later in
Alkmaar
Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...
.
Pauw graduated in Medicine on 2 November 1581 to 1584 at
Leiden 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 ...
, then remained known as the High School in Leiden. After graduating, he went abroad. He then went to
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
, where he took classes of
Henricus Brucaeus. He got in 1587 his
doctorate
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 ''l ...
. He then spent three months in the northern Italian city of
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
and he was taught by Hieronymus Fabricius but his father illness forced him to go back to Netherlands.
On 9 February 1589 he went to Leiden to work as a full professor, to assist Gerard de Bondt. Pauw took from 10 October 1598, along with De Bondt care of management and maintenance of the Hortus Botanicus of Leiden.
The tree species
Aesculus pavia
''Aesculus pavia'', known as red buckeye or firecracker plant (formerly ''Pavia rubra''), is a species of deciduous flowering plant. The small tree or shrub is native to the southern and eastern parts of the United States, found from Illinois to ...
(a type of horse chestnut) were named after Pauw by
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...
. He, in the early eighteenth century, was the director of this garden. On 10 May 1592 he was appointed full professor.
In 1596 or 1597 Pauw made the first
anatomical theater
An anatomical theatre ( Latin: ) was a specialised building or room, resembling a theatre, used in teaching anatomy at early modern universities. They were typically constructed with a tiered structure surrounding a central table, allowing a l ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, called
Theatrum anatomicum
An anatomical theatre (Latin: ) was a specialised building or room, resembling a theatre, used in teaching anatomy at early modern universities. They were typically constructed with a tiered structure surrounding a central table, allowing a lar ...
. Ten years earlier, De Bondt started anatomy lectures in Leiden, but Pauw was the first to appear publicly decomposing for his classes. These dissections attracted much attention and were not only visited by students, but also by non-students who had to pay an entrance fee of fifteen pence. The medical faculty was not taught during the lectures. Pauw and his colleagues used the corpses of executed criminals for these colleges.
He provided the theater with a collection of unique objects, including the bladder of
Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon (; ; 18 February 1559 – 1 July 1614) was a classical scholar and philologist, first in France and then later in England.
His son Méric Casaubon was also a classical scholar.
Life Early life
He was born in Geneva to two Fr ...
.
He was given professorship in medicine in 1599 by
Aelius Everhardus Vorstius who took after Pauw's death in 1617 the care of the garden that Pauw made in 1617 shortly before his death -. Was re-issued the Epitome of Andreas Vesalius. The Epitome is a custom for students version of De humani corporis fabrica libri septem and Pauw added his own annotations to it.
Works
*Pieter Paaw, ''Hortus publicus Academiae lugduno-batavae... opera Petri Paawii,...'', Lugduni Batavorum : ex officina J. Patii, 1603;
*Pieter Paaw, '' Theses medicae de asthmate, quas,...'', Lugduni Batavorum : Ex officina Ioannis Patii, 1605;
*Piter Paaw, ''Petri Paaw Amsteldamensis, in Academia Lugduno-Batava anatomici & botanici professoris, Primitiae anatomicae. De humani corporis ossibus'', Lugduni Batavorum. Ex officina Justi à Colster, 1615;
*Piter Paaw, ''Petri Paaw Primitiae anatomicae de humani corporis ossibus '', Lugd. Bat., 1615;
*Petri Paaw, ''Petri Paaw,... Succenturiatus anatomicus, continens commentaria in Hippocratem de capitis vulneribus.'', Lugduni Batavorum : apud J. a Colster, 1616;
*Petri Paaw, ''Petri Paaw Amsteldamensis, in Academia Lugduno-Batava anatomici & botanici professoris, Primitiae anatomicae. De humani corporis ossibus.'', Amstelreodami, apud Henricum Laurentii. Bibliopolam, 1633.
1564 births
1617 deaths
16th-century Dutch botanists
Dutch anatomists
16th-century Dutch anatomists
Leiden University alumni
Leiden University faculty
16th-century Dutch people
Pre-Linnaean botanists
Scientists from Amsterdam
Rectors of universities in the Netherlands
{{Netherlands-botanist-stub