Antonio Benivieni
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Antonio di Paolo Benivieni | |
|---|---|
 Antonio di Paolo Benivieni | |
| Born | November 3, 1443 |
| Died | 1502 Florence, Republic of Florence |
| Known for | autopsy, pathology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | medicine |
Antonio di Paolo Benivieni (1443–1502) was a Florentine physician who pioneered the use of the autopsy and many medical historians have considered him a founder of pathology.[1][2]
Early life and education
Benivieni was born in Florence, Italy, on November 3, 1443. His father Paolo was a nobleman, notary and a member, alongside his wife Nastagia de’ Bruni, of a prominent and wealthy Florentine family from S. Giovanni. Their coat of arms had a silver moon with a blue background. He was the first of five children alongside Domenico, theology reader at the University of Pisa, and Girolamo, famous poet and scholar. At first he embraced the literary career and was a pupil of Francesco da Castiglione during his studies of Greek. Subsequently, he abandoned this path to devote himself "ad philosophie ... et medicine secreta perscrutandum", continuing however to cultivate letters having the protection of the House of Medici: Cosimo il Vecchio and Piero il Gottoso. Benivieni's early education was provided by tutors and he then studied medicine at the university of Pisa and Siena.[3]
Adult life and career
The beginning of his activity as a doctor can be dated to around 1470, since Girolamo, in the epistle to Giovanni Rosati, writes that his brother went "medicating for about thirty-two years". In Florence Benivieni soon acquired a great reputation for safety in diagnoses, for the wise use of drugs and above all for his skill as a surgeon. Due to a lack of data, it is not possible to establish the year in which Benivieni was enrolled in the “Arte dei medici e degli speziali”.[4]
In 1473 he was appointed consul of the Arte and from March 1494 to May 1496 he was prior. He treated members of noble and powerful families such as the Medici, the Pazzi, the Adimari, the Strozzi family, and was also a doctor of convents (San Nicolò, S. Caterina, SS. Annunziata, S. Marco). He treated Francesco of 16 years old of the Guicciardini family, and he was a friend and follower of Gerolamo Savonarola as well as his doctor. He had a particular friendship with Lorenzo il Magnifico and he treated his daughter. In 1464 he dedicated to Lorenzo il Magnifico the “εγκώμιον Cosmi”, then the “De regimine sanitatis” and again the “De peste”.[5]
In the book of Memories, which is an autobiographical manuscript in the State Archives of Florence, there is various information on Benivieni's economic life; he noted in this book private business, purchases, payments and sometimes even notes on his profession. Most of his income came from possessions in Florence and in the countryside. Antonio Benivieni owned various Greek, Latin and Arab works, including many medical works such as "I Consilia" of Taddeo and treatises on poisons, baths and various medications. This collection shows not only Antonio Benivieni's great medical culture but also the humanistic one.[4]
Death
Benivieni died on November 2, 1502, in Florence and was buried in the chapel of the Basilica of SS. Annunziata. On the tombstone was engraved “D.O.M. Antonio Benivenio patri philosopho ac doctor sibi posterisque Michael Benivenius posuit. Obiit die II. November an. sal. MDII ". The chapel then passed to the Donati family and in 1665 Carlo Donati changed the plaque which is still visible today.[4]
