1530-1589

Italian physician and surgeon who saw in the ancient surgical texts the foundations of a modern practice. A lecturer in anatomy for 22 years at Bologna, he sought to treat head wounds by adhering to the precepts of Hippocrates. A humanist surgeon, Aranzio sought to return to the masters of antiquity for practical advice. In 1564 he coined the term hippocampus, a structure in the brain, and described some of the blood vessels in the brain. He was also the first to do plastic surgery on people whose noses had deteriorated due to syphilis.