Mondino de Luzzi

Timeline

1. c. 1270–1295Bologna · BolognaBorn into a family of physicians from the Tuscan community that had moved from Florence to Bologna, his father ran an apothecary and his uncle was a university medical professor. He received Galen–Avicenna training in medicine at Bologna and was exposed to the wound-examination practices of the law faculty.
2. c. 1295–1314Bologna · BolognaAfter graduating he taught anatomy and surgery at his alma mater and practiced medicine. Municipal and university regulations in Bologna gradually permitted the examination of corpses, creating institutional space for systematic anatomical teaching; he argued that dissection should be compared against classical texts rather than relying on books alone.
3. 1315–1316Bologna · BolognaIn January 1315 he conducted a public human dissection before students and spectators, reportedly on an executed woman. In 1316 he completed the Anathomia, guiding procedures in the order of decay of the abdomen, chest, head, and limbs, making it a true anatomical manual.
4. 1316–1326Bologna · BolognaHe continued teaching for another decade; his book circulated in manuscript and was first printed around 1478, remaining the standard textbook at European medical schools into the 16th century. He died in Bologna around 1326 and was later called the 'reviver of anatomy.'