- Lorenz Heister
Lorenz Heister (Latin: Laurentius Heister) (
September 19 ,1683 -April 18 ,1758 ) was a Germananatomist ,surgeon andbotanist who was a native ofFrankfurt am Main . From 1702 to 1706 he studied at the Universities of Giessen andWetzlar , and afterwards went toAmsterdam where he studied anatomy underFrederik Ruysch (1638-1731). In the summer of 1707 he was an assistant physician infield hospital s atBrussels andGhent during theWar of the Spanish Succession . Afterwards he went toLeiden and studied anatomy underBernhard Siegfried Albinus (1653-1721) andGovert Bidloo (1649-1713), and also attendedHermann Boerhaave ’s (1668-1738) lectures onchemistry and ocular diseases. In 1708 he earned his doctorate at theUniversity of Harderwijk , and a year later rejoined the Dutch Army as a field surgeon at the Battles of Oudenarde and Malplaquet.1711 he was appointed professor of anatomy and
surgery at theUniversity of Altdorf , and in 1720 became professor of anatomy and surgery at Helmstädt, where he remained for rest of his life. Among his numerous written works, his best known is "Chirurgie", which was translated into several languages. This surgical book was used extensively in Japan, and was still used as a standard text atVienna as late as 1838. Also, Heister's botanical garden in Helmstädt was considered one of the most beautiful in Germany.In 1718, Heister is credited for coining the word "
tracheotomy ", and was the first physician to study thepathology ofappendicitis . His name is lent to the plantgenus "Heisteria", as well as to theSpiral valves of Heister , which are anatomical folds of thecystic duct .References
* [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/3126.html Who Named It?; Lorenz Heister]
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