1270-1326

Italian Anatomist

Mondino dei Liucci was the first documented person to dissect the human body in public. His Anothomia (Anatomia), written in 1316, became the most important textbook for dissection until Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) wrote De humani corporis fabrica. Since Anothomia was the only book of its kind for many years, it outlived its expected "shelf life." As late as 1580, after both Berengario da Carpi (1460?-1530) and Vesalius had published improved anatomical works, Mondino's book still remained in use.

Mondino received his degree at Bologna in 1290 (1300 according to some sources). He came from a family of medical people; his father was an apothecary and his uncle a professor of medicine. Also known as Mondino de Luzzi and Mundinus, Mondino was a contemporary of Henri de Mondeville, whose name his is sometimes confused with.

Mondino's Anothomia was actually a "how-to" guide to dissection rather than...