1510?-1574

Italian Anatomist

Bartolomeo Eustachio, contemporary of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) and a major figure in the great flowering of knowledge in gross anatomy that occurred in Italian universities during the sixteenth century, is best known for his account of the auditory organ that bears his name, the Eustachian tube. His treatises on the kidney, venous system, and teeth were superior to anything yet produced, and his copperplate engravings, particularly of the sympathetic nervous system, are of such quality that they alone ensure Eustachio's place of eminence in anatomical history.

Eustachio was born in San Severino, Italy, between 1510-1520. The son of a physician, he received a good humanistic education and knew Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic. He studied medicine in Rome at the Archiginnasio della Sapienza and began to practice near his birthplace in about 1540. Thereafter he was invited to become physician to the Duke of Urbino...