| Gerard van Swieten | |
 Gerard van Swieten on the memorial to Maria Theresia, Vienna
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| Born | May 7, 1700 Leiden |
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| Died | June 18, 1772 Vienna |
| Residence |  Austria |
| Nationality |  Netherlands |
| Fields | Physician |
| Institutions | University of Vienna |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Doctoral advisor | Hermann Boerhaave |
| Doctoral students | Anton von Störck |
| Known for | Debunking ghosts and vampires |
Contents |
Van Swietens career
Van Swieten was born in Leiden. Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses "Leyden" redirects here For other uses see Leyden (disambiguation. Events 618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries Year 1772 ( MDCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health The University of Vienna (Universität Wien is a Public university located in Vienna, Austria. Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval The University of Vienna (Universität Wien is a Public university located in Vienna, Austria. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement Herman Boerhaave ( Voorhout, December 31, 1668 - Leiden, September 23, 1738) was a Dutch botanist humanist Anton von Störck was an Austrian physician ( February 21, 1731 - February 11, 1803) who was a native of Saulgau. "Leyden" redirects here For other uses see Leyden (disambiguation. He was a pupil of Hermann Boerhaave and became in 1745 the personal physician of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. Herman Boerhaave ( Voorhout, December 31, 1668 - Leiden, September 23, 1738) was a Dutch botanist humanist In this position he implemented a transformation of the Austrian health service and medical university education. He founded a botanical garden, a chemical laboratory and introduced clinical instruction.
Van Swietens part in the fight against superstition
Especially important is his part in the fight against superstition during the enlightenment, particularly in the case of the vampyres, that were reported from villages in Eastern Europe in the years between 1718 and 1732. Superstition ( Latin superstitio, literally "standing over" derived perhaps from standing in awe used in Latin as a unreasonable or excessive belief The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. After the last of the wars against the Turks in 1718 some parts of the land, e. g. Northern Serbia and a part of Bosnia, went to Austria. Historically and geographically the Region known as Bosnia (natively Bosna; Cyrillic: Босна lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging These parts were settled with refugees that had the special status of dutyfree farmers. But for that they had to take care of the agricultural development and secure the frontier. Because of that the reports about the vampyres reached for the first time German-speaking area. Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living In the year 1755 Gerard van Swieten was sent by Empress Maria Theresa to Moravia to investigate the situation relating to vampires. Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia see also names in other languages; May 13, 1717 November 29 1780) was the Archduchess regnant Moravia (Morava; Morawy Moravie Moravia is a historical region in central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living He viewed the vampire myth as a "barbarism of ignorance" and his aim was to eradicate it.
He investigated it very thoroughly, and wrote a rational report, Abhandlung des Daseyns der Gespenster (or Discourse on the Existence of Ghosts), in which he offered an entirely natural explanation for a belief in vampires. He explained the unusual states in the graves with possibles causes like processes of fermentation and lack of oxygen what was a reason for preventing decomposition. Characteristic for his opinion is this quotation from the preface to his essay of 1768: “… that all the fuss doesn't come from anything else than a vain fear, a superstitious credulity, a dark and eventful imagination, simplicity and ignorance among the people. ” Some other physicians supported his theory or even found out other reason for the frequent deaths in the villages, e. A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health g. epidemics.
Therefore Gerard van Swieten is one of the most important fighters against the superstition of the “simple” people. Superstition ( Latin superstitio, literally "standing over" derived perhaps from standing in awe used in Latin as a unreasonable or excessive belief Because of his report, Empress Maria Theresa enacted an edict about vampyres that prohibited all traditional processes such as impalement, beheading and burning of dead bodies. Impalement is a term that refers to situations in which objects are driven through the body causing deep stabbing wounds Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head or beheading, is the cutting off of the head of a person or animal
Reform
Beside his medical activities, Gerard van Swieten was also active as a reformer. Especially the censorship was organized in a different way under his direction. Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor He drove out the Jesuits that were in charge of the censorship before and carried out a centralization of the censorship that was only partly successful. The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order He also tried to use scientific and rational aspects for the judgement of literature.
Gerard van Swieten was the father of Gottfried van Swieten who was later known as the patron of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Euro gold and silver commemorative coins are special Euro coins minted and issued by member states of the Eurozone. Baron Gottfried van Swieten ( Leiden, October 29, 1733 - Vienna, March 29, 1803) was a diplomat librarian and government A genus of mahogany was named after Gerard van Swieten, Swietenia, by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored wood originally the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Swietenia is a genus of trees in the Mahogany family Meliaceae. Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin or Baron Nikolaus von Jacquin.
See Also
Gerard van Swieten was recently selected as the main motif of an Austrian collectors' coin, the Gerard van Swieten commemorative coin, minted in January 31, 2007. Euro gold and silver commemorative coins are special Euro coins minted and issued by member states of the Eurozone. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. His legacy to the world of medicine made him the choice for the first coin in this new gold series “Celebrated Physicians of Austria”. The obverse side shows his portrait holding a book.
References
- Hamberger, Klaus: Mortuus non mordet. Dokumente zum Vampirismus 1689-1791. Wien 1992
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