Peke Cisterna

Péke Cistern was one of the most prominent representatives of the Franco-Swiss Renaissance of the 17th century, who laid the foundations of anatomy for European medicine of his time. He became the first person to write a full-fledged treatise on human anatomy. This work is considered one of the first monographs on anatomy, published in 1650 and widely known in the scientific world. His book Anatomiae Europae nunc novissimae, published in Paris, was a detailed description of the human body based on his personal experience of dissecting corpses and demonstrating their internal organs.

Cisterno was born in Switzerland in the family of a clergyman, but later he moved to France, where he received his education at the surgical clinic in Lyon and at the medical faculty of the Sorbonne in Paris. When he became a successful surgeon, he began to publish his scientific works in academic journals such as Archivum Anatomicum, Semeiosis and Jahrbuch der Chirurgie.

One of Cisterno's tasks was to describe and classify all the tissues and organs of the human body so that they could be used in medicine. In his book, he developed a detailed structure of the human body, combining anatomy and medicine into a single process, which is very important for understanding the processes occurring in the human body. Cisterno also systematically described the blood circulation, veins and arteries, the nervous system and the human digestive system.

His book had a huge impact on the medical science of his time and contributed to the development of new methods of treating diseases. In addition, Cisterno proposed new ways to treat surgical diseases, such as amputation of limbs, which later became a common method for healing wounds and injuries. However, his work also attracted criticism due to its imperfections, insufficient scientific justification and the unprovenness of some details. Nevertheless, Cisterno's work became an impetus for the development of anatomy as a science in Europe in the future.