Eustachio was one of the Italian anatomists of the sixteenth century who laid the foundation for modern studies of the human body. The Eustachian tube, which extends from the middle ear to the pharynx, was named after him.

Eustachio was born in San Severino in eastern Italy. Scholars have placed his birthdate as early as 1510 and as late as 1524. His father, Mariano, was a physician, and he gave his son an excellent classical education, studying Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic. He studied to be a doctor at the Archiginnasio della Sapienza in Rome, and began his practice around 1540. He became the physician to Cardinal Giulio della Rovere in 1547. In 1549, Eustachio went with Cardinal Rovere to Rome. There he became a professor of anatomy at the Archiginnasio della Sapienza. Because of his position, he was able to obtain human cadavers for dissections.

Religious reverence for the body made human anatomical...