Anat Cell Biol.  2010 Dec;43(4):280-283. 10.5115/acb.2010.43.4.280.

Greek anatomist herophilus: the father of anatomy

• Bay NS
• Bay BH

• KMID: 1455341
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5115/acb.2010.43.4.280

Abstract

One of the most stirring controversies in the history of Anatomy is that Herophilus, an ancient Greek anatomist and his younger contemporary, Erasistratus, were accused of performing vivisections of living humans. However, this does not detract from the fact that Herophilus has made phenomenal anatomical observations of the human body which have contributed significantly towards the understanding of the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs and nervous system. It is notable that he was the first person to perform systematic dissection of the human body and is widely acknowledged as the Father of Anatomy. He has been hailed as one of the greatest anatomists that ever lived, rivaled only by Andreas Vesalius who is regarded as the founder of modern human anatomy.

Keyword

Father of anatomy; Vivisection; Human body dissection; Controversy

MeSH Terms

Anatomists
Brain
Eye
Fathers
Human Body
Humans
Liver
Nervous System
Vivisection

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 A sketch of Herophilus redrawn from an original painting by Joseph F. Doeve (which is in the collection of the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library and available at http://clendening.kumc.edu/dc/pc/h.html).

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