Iulius Casserius (1552-1616): the self-made anatomist of Padua's golden age.

Abstract

Giulio Cesare Casseri (1552– 1616), whose name was Latinized into Iulius Casserius, was born in Piacenza; therefore, the nickname Piacentino (Placentinus) was often used. According to Sterzi (1910), who based his claim on a statement contained in Casserius’s will, his date of birth was around 1552. It should be noted, however, that although most modern authors accept this date (Roberts and Tomlinson, 1992; Premuda, 1993), some (Singer, 1957) still report 1561 as his birth date on the basis of the inscription (Fig. 1) appearing on the portrait published in Casserius’s work De Vocis Auditusque organis that ascribes to the author the age of 39 years. According to most of his early biographers (Tomasini, 1630; Ghilini, 1647; Papadopoli, 1726), Casserius’s family was very poor and the young Iulius, perhaps as the servant of some student (Sterzi, 1910), moved to Padua, the city that shared with Bologna the reputation of being the seat of Italy’s most illustrious university. He soon assumed the job of servant in the house of the famed Gerolamo Fabrici d’Acquapendente (Fabricius, 1533– 1619) (Fig. 2), Public Lecturer of Anatomy and Surgery (Tomasini, 1630; Ghilini, 1647). As Tomasini (1630) reports, “from a servant he became first Fabricius’s auditor, then instructor and brilliant disciple.” We do not know when Casserius matriculated in the School of Medicine of the Universita Artista. As mentioned several times in his works, Casserius, in addition to Fabricius, had the well-known physician Gerolamo Mercuriale (Mercurialis) as a teacher and mentor, who held the chair of Clinical Medicine of Padua in the years 1569–1587. The precise date he obtained his degree in medicine and philosophy is unknown, because the official records are missing from 1580 to 1587; a likely date is ca.1580 (Sterzi, 1910; De Ferrari, 1978; Premuda, 1993). After the award of his degree, Casserius, in addition to giving private lectures on anatomy to the students of the Universita Artista and working as Fabricius’s preparator, started a practice as physician and surgeon in Padua that was very successful (Tomasini, 1630). In 1584, Casserius’s reputation was already so great that he took Fabricius’s place as member of the board of examiners for the finals in surgery. These examinations, held in private houses in the presence of the Rector of the University, conferred the license to practice surgery. The profession of surgery was considered in those days as a minor branch of Medicine and the surgeon had to take an oath that he would not involve himself in the treatment of serious diseases, but would call a licensed physician whenever the patient was in real danger.