Famous 17th Century Physicians

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 1 
William Harvey
(Physician)
William Harvey
6
Birthdate: April 1, 1578
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Folkestone, England
Died: June 3, 1657

The first to discover the entire process of human blood circulation, physician William Harvey was a Royal College of Physicians fellow. He also served as the personal physician of James I. He later worked at the Bartholomew’s Hospital but was replaced for being a staunch monarchist.

 2 
François Bernier
(Physician and traveller)
François Bernier
3
Birthdate: September 25, 1620
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Joué-Étiau, France
Died: September 22, 1688
 3 
William Petty
(British Economist, Philosopher and Physician Known for His Methods of Political Arithmetic')
William Petty
3
Birthdate: May 26, 1623
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Romsey, Hampshire, England
Died: December 16, 1687

Initially a physician and anatomy professor, William Petty also taught music. However, he later established himself as a noted economist and became famous for his works such as Treatise of Taxes and Contributions. He was a surveyor under Oliver Cromwell and was a pioneer of political arithmetic.

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 4 
Robert Fludd
(British Paracelsian Physician, Astrologer and Mathematician Known for His Compilations in Occult Philosophy)
Robert Fludd
4
Birthdate: January 17, 1574
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Milgate House, Bearsted, Kent, England
Died: September 8, 1637

Best remembered for his study of occult philosophy, Robert Fludd, the son of English diplomat Sir Thomas Fludd, was also a physician. However, he was criticized for being a medical professional who believed in magic and defended Rosicrucianism. His other interests included cosmology, astrology, and Freemasonry.

 5 
Thomas Sydenham
(Physician)
Thomas Sydenham
4
Birthdate: September 10, 1624
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Wynford Eagle
Died: December 29, 1689

Known as The English Hippocrates for authoring the medicine textbook Observationes Medicae, physician Thomas Sydenham is also remembered for his pathbreaking research on gout and scarlet fever. He also discovered St. Vitus’ dance, or Sydenham’s chore; believed in nosological classification of ailments; and popularized the use of quinine for treating malaria.

 6 
Henry Vaughan
(Physician, Economist, Poet, Writer)
Henry Vaughan
3
Birthdate: April 17, 1621
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Brecknockshire
Died: April 23, 1695

Anglo-Welsh metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan was a major literary figure of the Commonwealth period and is best remembered for Silex Scintillans. While he initially studied law, the Civil War disrupted his studies and he was called back home to serve Sir Marmaduke Lloyd. He was also a practicing physician.

 7 
Thomas Willis
(English Doctor)
Thomas Willis
2
Birthdate: January 27, 1621
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Great Bedwyn
Died: November 11, 1675
 8 
Herman Boerhaave
(Botanist, Physician)
Herman Boerhaave
3
Birthdate: December 31, 1668
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Voorhout, Netherlands
Died: September 23, 1738
 9 
Giovanni Battista Morgagni
(Anatomist)
Giovanni Battista Morgagni
2
Birthdate: February 25, 1682
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Forlì, Italy
Died: December 6, 1771
 10 
William Stukeley
(Physician)
William Stukeley
2
Birthdate: November 7, 1687
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Holbeach, England
Died: March 3, 1765
 11 
Engelbert Kaempfer
(Naturalist)
Engelbert Kaempfer
2
Birthdate: September 16, 1651
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Lemgo, Germany
Died: November 2, 1716

Seventeenth-century German physician and traveler Engelbert Kaempfer had been on trade missions across the world, including places such as Russia, Iran, Java, and Japan. His written experiences about his stay in Japan became a valuable source of information on the flora and fauna of the country.

 12 
Claude Perrault
(Architect)
Claude Perrault
2
Birthdate: September 25, 1613
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: October 9, 1688

French architect Claude Perrault is best known for his design of the Louvre’s eastern façade. Trained in math and medicine, he began his career as a physician. He was also part of the Academy of Sciences. Apart from designing the Colonnade, he had also designed the Paris Observatory.

 13 
Santorio Santorio
(Italian Physician and Physiologist Known for His Discoveries Concerning Metabolism and Invention of Technical Instruments)
Santorio Santorio
2
Birthdate: March 29, 1561
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Koper, Slovenia
Died: February 25, 1636

Santorio Santorio was an Italian physician, physiologist, and professor. He is best remembered for inventing several medical devices during his lifetime. He was the first person to use a water current meter, a wind gauge, and a thermoscope. Among his best known work is De Statica Medicina, which is credited with influencing generations of physicians.

 14 
Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente
(Surgeon)
Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente
2
Birthdate: May 20, 1533
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Acquapendente, Italy
Died: May 21, 1619
 15 
Bernardino Ramazzini
(Physician)
Bernardino Ramazzini
3
Birthdate: October 3, 1633
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Carpi, Italy
Died: November 5, 1714
 16 
Gaspard Bauhin
(Swiss Botanist Who Introduced a Scientific Binomial System of Classification to Both Anatomy and Botany)
Gaspard Bauhin
2
Birthdate: January 17, 1560
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Basel, Switzerland
Died: December 5, 1624

Born to a French physician in Switzerland, Gaspard Bauhin was a qualified physician himself and later made some of the most significant contributions to the classification of plants. Known for his Pinax theatri botanica, he also provided one of the initial descriptions of the ileocecal (or Bauhin’s) valve.

 17 
Thomas Bartholin
(Danish Physician, Mathematician, and Theologian Known for His Work in the Discovery of the Lymphatic System in Humans)
Thomas Bartholin
2
Birthdate: October 20, 1616
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Malmö Municipality, Sweden
Died: December 4, 1680

Thomas Bartholin was a Danish physician, theologian, and mathematician. He is best remembered for discovering the lymphatic system in human beings. Thomas Bartholin is also known as the first person to scientifically describe refrigeration anesthesia, which is widely used today, especially while performing major amputations of the limbs.    

 18 
Johann Konrad Dippel
(Theologian)
Johann Konrad Dippel
1
Birthdate: August 10, 1673
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Mühltal, Germany
Died: April 25, 1734

Remembered as the “mad scientist,” Johann Konrad Dippel is considered by many as the person who had inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. He used the pseudonym Christianus Democritus to write various scientific texts and claimed his concoction Dippel's oil was the "elixir of life" that promised immortality.

 19 
Franciscus Sylvius
(Dutch Physician and Scientist Known for Discovery of the Cleft in the Brain Known as 'Sylvian Fissure')
Franciscus Sylvius
2
Birthdate: March 15, 1614
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Hanau, Germany
Died: November 19, 1672

Franciscus Sylvius was a Dutch scientist and physician. He is credited with establishing the first academic chemical laboratory in 1669. He is also credited with founding the Iatrochemical School of Medicine. Many of Franciscus Sylvius' students like Reinier de Graaf, Jan Swammerdam, and Niels Stensen went on to become notable personalities in their respective fields.

 20 
Regnier de Graaf
(Dutch Physician Known for His Key Contributions to the Field of Reproductive Biology)
Regnier de Graaf
1
Birthdate: July 30, 1641
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Schoonhoven, Netherlands
Died: August 17, 1673

Reinier de Graaf was a Dutch physician, anatomist, and physiologist. He is credited with making important discoveries in reproductive biology. De Graaf, who specialized in iatrogenesis and iatrochemistry, was the first to develop a syringe. He did so to inject dye into the reproductive organs of the human body to understand their structure and function.

 21 
Andrea Cesalpino
(Physician)
Andrea Cesalpino
1
Birthdate: June 6, 1519
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Arezzo, Italy
Died: February 23, 1603
 22 
John Mayow
(British Chemist and Physiologist Best Known for Conducting Early Research Into Respiration and the Nature of Air)
John Mayow
1
Birthdate: May 24, 1640
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Looe, England
Died: September 30, 1679

John Mayow is said to have discovered oxygen as piritus nitroaereus about a century before the existence of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and Joseph Pristley. Though he initially studied law, he later switched to practicing medicine and is remembered for his contribution to pneumatic chemistry. He was named a Fellow of The Royal Society.

 23 
Michael Wigglesworth
(Minister)
Michael Wigglesworth
1
Birthdate: October 18, 1631
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Yorkshire, England
Died: June 10, 1705
 24 
Zabdiel Boylston
(Physician)
Zabdiel Boylston
1
Birthdate: March 9, 1676
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Brookline, Massachusetts, United States
Died: March 1, 1766
 25 
Richard Lower
(Physician)
Richard Lower
1
Birthdate: 1631 AD
Birthplace: Bodmin, United Kingdom
Died: January 7, 1691
 26 
Richard Mead
(British Physician Known for His Contributions to the Field of Epidemiology)
Richard Mead
1
Birthdate: August 11, 1673
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Stepney, London, England
Died: February 16, 1754

Eighteenth-century English doctor Richard Mead is remembered for his study on transmissible diseases such as smallpox, scurvy, and measles. He also wrote on the treatment of snake venom victims. An avid reader, he owned a huge collection of books, too. A satirized version of his character appears in Tristram Shandy.

 27 
Gabriel Naudé
(Librarian)
Gabriel Naudé
1
Birthdate: February 2, 1600
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: July 10, 1653
 28 
Andreas Libavius
(German Poet and Novelist Known for Practicing Alchemy and Writing a Book Called 'Alchemia')
Andreas Libavius
1
Birthdate: 1550 AD
Birthplace: Halle, Germany
Died: June 30, 1616

Andreas Libavius was a German professor and physician. He was a renaissance man known for practicing alchemy. He wrote a book called Alchemia, one of the first chemistry textbooks ever written. He taught history and poetry at the University of Jena and later became a physician at the Gymnasium in Rothenburg. He also founded the Gymnasium at Coburg. 

 29 
Johann Joachim Becher
(Physician)
Johann Joachim Becher
1
Birthdate: May 6, 1635
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Speyer, Germany
Died: September 30, 1682

Johann Joachim Becher was a German physician, alchemist, scholar, and adventurer. He is remembered for his development of the phlogiston theory of combustion. He also played a role in the advancement of Austrian cameralism. A brilliant man, he was appointed professor of medicine at the University of Mainz. He also served as the physician to the elector of Bavaria.  

 30 
Prospero Alpini
(Scientist)
Prospero Alpini
1
Birthdate: November 23, 1553
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Marostica, Italy
Died: February 6, 1617
 31 
John Bastwick
(Physician)
John Bastwick
1
Birthdate: 1593 AD
Birthplace: Writtle, England
Died: 1654 AD
 32 
Paul Fleming
(Poet)
Paul Fleming
1
Birthdate: October 5, 1609
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Hartenstein, Germany
Died: April 2, 1640

Seventeenth-century lyrical poet Paul Fleming was also a skilled physician. A disciple of Martin Opitz, he composed love poems and religious hymns. He was also the first German to make use of the sonnet form effectively. He had also been a merchant in Russia and Iran for several years.

 33 
John Bulwer
(Physician)
John Bulwer
1
Birthdate: May 16, 1606
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: London, England
Died: October 16, 1656
 34 
William Cheselden
(Surgeon)
William Cheselden
1
Birthdate: October 19, 1688
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Somerby, England
Died: April 10, 1752
 35 
Rasmus Bartholin
(Danish Physician and Physicist Who Discovered the Optical Phenomenon of 'Double Refraction')
Rasmus Bartholin
1
Birthdate: August 13, 1625
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Roskilde, Denmark
Died: November 4, 1698

Rasmus Bartholin was a Danish grammarian and physician. He is best remembered for his discovery of the double refraction of a ray of light by Iceland spar. Rasmus Bartholin is also remembered for his association with the University of Copenhagen where he served as a professor of Geometry and Medicine. 

 36 
Richard Blackmore
(Poet)
Richard Blackmore
1
Birthdate: January 22, 1654
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Corsham, England
Died: October 9, 1729
 37 
Edward Tyson
(Scientist)
Edward Tyson
1
Birthdate: January 20, 1651
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Bristol, England
Died: August 1, 1708
 38 
Robert Sibbald
(Scottish Physician)
Robert Sibbald
1
Birthdate: April 15, 1641
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland
Died: July 31, 1722

Robert Sibbald was a Scottish antiquary and physician best known for his study of whales. Sibbald was the first person to give a scientific description of the blue whale, which was originally named after him. Robert Sibbald is also remembered for his association with the University of Edinburgh where he served as the first professor of medicine, starting from 1685.

 39 
Matthias de L'Obel
(Physician)
Matthias de L'Obel
1
Birthdate: 1538 AD
Birthplace: Lille, France
Died: March 3, 1616
 40 
Théophraste Renaudot
(Physician)
Théophraste Renaudot
1
Birthdate: 1586
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Loudun, France
Died: October 25, 1653
 41 
Antoine de Jussieu
(French Botanist Who Founded a Natural System of Plant Classification)
Antoine de Jussieu
1
Birthdate: July 6, 1686
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Lyon, France
Died: April 22, 1758

Starting his career as a botany demonstrator at the Jardin du Roi, French botanist Antoine de Jussieu later went on to establish his own principles of plant classification. He also taught at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle and practiced medicine, mostly treating the poor and the needy.

 42 
Étienne François Geoffroy
(French Physician and Chemist Best Known for His 1718 Affinity Tables)
Étienne François Geoffroy
1
Birthdate: February 13, 1672
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: January 6, 1731

Étienne François Geoffroy, also known as Geoffroy the Elder, initially wished to be an apothecary but later deviated to medicine. He is best remembered for his tables of "affinities" that showcased fixed attraction between various chemical bodies. He also dismissed the idea of the philosopher’s stone as a myth.

 43 
Giovanni Maria Lancisi
(Physician)
Giovanni Maria Lancisi
6
Birthdate: October 26, 1654
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: January 20, 1720
 44 
Jared Eliot
(Physician)
Jared Eliot
0
Birthdate: November 7, 1685
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Guilford, Connecticut, United States
Died: April 22, 1763
 45 
Guillaume de Baillou
(Physician)
Guillaume de Baillou
0
Birthdate: 1538 AD
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: 1616 AD
 46 
Gaspare Aselli
(Physician)
Gaspare Aselli
1
Birthdate: 1581 AD
Birthplace: Cremona, Italy
Died: September 9, 1625
 47 
Peter Chamberlen the elder
(Surgeon)
Peter Chamberlen the elder
0
Birthdate: 1560 AD
Birthplace: England
Died: 1631 AD
 48 
Hugh Chamberlen
(Physician)
Hugh Chamberlen
0
Birthdate: 1632 AD
Birthplace: London, England
Died: 1720 AD
 49 
Lorenzo Bellini
(Physician)
Lorenzo Bellini
0
Birthdate: September 3, 1643
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: January 8, 1704
 50 
Siôn Dafydd Rhys
(Welsh Physician Who Wrote the First Welsh Grammar in Latin)
Siôn Dafydd Rhys
1
Birthdate: 1534 AD
Birthplace: Llanfaethlu, Wales
Died: 1609 AD

Welsh physician and grammarian Siôn Dafydd Rhys penned the first Welsh grammar in Latin. Initially a doctor in Cardiff, he also wrote extensively on bardic poetry. He also wrote a long history of Britain. However, his works have been criticizing for forcibly trying to mingle Welsh language and Latin grammar.