Morgagni

MORGAGNI Giovanni Battista (Giovanni Battista Morgagni, 1682-1771), famous Italian anatomist and pathologist; student of Valsalva and teacher of a number of leading anatomists (among them Scarpi). For 59 years he held the chair of anatomy at Padua, which he received at a very young age, having made himself famous with his brilliant research in the field of anatomy, which he presented in the first volume of his major work ("Adversaria anatomica", v. I-VI, Bologna, 1706-1719); further volumes of this work only strengthened his fame. However, not content with his work in the field of normal anatomy, with his inquisitive mind armed with the richest knowledge in the humanities (he has a number of works on archaeology and physiology), he followed the path of comparing normal and pathological pictures observed by him in numerous autopsies of humans and animals. The museum he created, containing numerous specimens of various malformations, anomalies, tumors of different organs, etc., became the basis of his work "De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis libri V", published in 2 vols. in Venice in 1761. This work, in which he not only sets out and explains the basis of pathological processes and their relation to normal tissues, but also provides information from the fields of pathogenesis, symptomatology and diagnosis of the corresponding diseases, rightly secured for him the fame of the founder of pathological anatomy. The five-volume collection of M.'s works ("Opera omnia") was published in Venice in 1765.

The five-volume collection of M.'s works ("Opera omnia") was published in Venice in 1765.