To the 500th anniversary of the birth of Gabriele Falloppio (1523–1562)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the birth of the greatest physician and scientist of the 16th century Gabriele Falloppio (Fallopius), a  revolutionary morphologist who made an invaluable contribution to the development of science, and one of the founders of fundamental anatomy. Although Falloppio is primarily known as  an  anatomist who  described the  uterine (“fallopian”) tubes, his range of  interests was  much wider, and  his contribution to  anatomy was  substantially more  significant. Fallopius made many important discoveries in  anatomy, and a number of anatomical structures bear his name. Also, Gabriele Falloppio was a talented teacher and a renowned medical practitioner, surgeon and pharmacist. It  should  be especially noted that  Fallopius considered himself an  apprentice of  Andreas Vesalius. There  is no  data confirming the  fact of  their personal acquaintance, but there  is documentary evidence of  short-term correspondence between Fallopius and Vesalius. In  his  famous work “Anatomical observations” (“Observationes anatomicae”, 1561), Fallopius pointed  out Vesalius’ mistakes and  inaccuracies in  anatomical descriptions, subjecting his “De  humani corporis fabrica” to correct criticism. Vesalius’ reply with compliments to Fallopius as a scientist has been preserved. In any case, the undoubted fact is that Fallopius was an adherent of Vesalius’ methods in applied science and the teaching of anatomy, and consistently introduced them into practice throughout his life.