Jan Evangelista Purkynje (1787–1869)

Andrzej Grzybowski,Krzysztof Pietrzak

doi:10.1007/s00415-013-7184-8

Abstract

Jan Evangelista Purkynje (1787–1869)

Highlights

Jan Evangelista Purkynje (Fig. 1) was born on December 17, 1787, in Libochovice, in what was the Czech territory in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy
After his father’s death when Jan was 6 years old, he was encouraged to become a priest. These plans along with his own poverty led to a situation in which, from the age of 10, he was driven from one Piarist monastery school to another, learning German and Latin along the way. He was sent to the Piarist Philosophical Institute in Litomysl, and later, the Philosophical Institute in Prague
In 1818, he graduated from the medical faculty

Summary

Introduction

Jan Evangelista Purkynje (Fig. 1) was born on December 17, 1787, in Libochovice, in what was the Czech territory in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In 1813, he took up medical studies at the University of Prague. He became a prosector and an assistant in the Physiology Institute at the University of Prague, but he had no opportunities to carry out his own experiments. He conducted research on vertigo phenomena, still relying on the method of self-examination, in a Prague fairground on a carousel.

Results

Conclusion