Girolamo Fabrici | Biography

The anatomical and embryological studies conducted by Girolamo Fabrici were of such importance that he might be considered the founder of modern embryology. In the anatomical theater of the University of Padua, Fabrici demonstrated the advantages of the comparative approach to anatomical and embryological questions. Fabrici was born into a noble, but no longer wealthy family, near Orvieto, Italy. Although he was apparently the eldest son, the date and year of his birth are uncertain. His family sent him to Padua where he studied Greek, Latin, logic, and philosophy. Fabrici became interested in medicine and studied with Gabriele Falloppio and he earned his degree in medicine and philosophy about 1559. When Falloppio died in 1562, Fabrici took over his mentor's position as teacher of anatomy. Fabrici gave private lessons in anatomy from 1563 until 1565 when he was appointed to lecture on anatomy and surgery at the University of Padua. In 1600 he was awarded tenure for life. Fabrici was instrumental in the construction of a permanent anatomical theater that he inaugurated in 1595. He was highly respected as a physician and surgeon, although his students complained about his lack of enthusiasm for his teaching duties. After almost 50 years at the University, Fabrici retired from teaching in 1613.

Although Fabrici demonstrated anatomical and embryological features of various species, he was not a comparative anatomist in the modern sense. However, his anatomical lectures included the dissected of the body of a woman who had died in labor and the fetal heart and blood vessels. He also demonstrated the anatomy of a fetal horse, a fetal sheep, and a pregnant ewe. One of his most famous publication was De venarum ostiolis (On the valves of the veins, 1603). Fabrici said that he first observed these structures in 1574 and began demonstrating the valves to his students in 1578.

In addition to his anatomical writings, Fabrici published two important embryological works: On the Formed Fetus and On the Development of the Egg and the Chick. Discovering morphological and developmental details was less important to Fabrici than finding ways support traditional philosophical principles and reveal the purpose of the fetal organs. Despite the fact that Fabrici worked without the benefit of magnifying lenses, the illustrations in his texts include remarkable details of the development of the chick. Five of the plates that illustrate On the Development of the Egg and the Chick represent the first printed figures of the developing chick egg. The series seemed to begin with the third or fourth day of incubation. The text, however, in which Fabrici speculates about the possible causes and conditions of generation, reflects the still powerful influence of Aristotle and Galen. Like Aristotle and Galen, Fabrici was interested in the order in which parts of the embryo were formed during development and teleological explanations. Unlike these ancient authorities, Fabrici seems inclined to believe that the blood formed before the heart or liver. Fabrici noted the ovary, oviduct, and the germinal disk, but he assumed that the chick formed from the chalazae of the egg. In On the Formed Fetus Fabrici describes the way in which nature appears to provide for the needs of the fetus during gestation. He discusses the umbilical vessels, the fetal membranes, the placenta, the uterus, and so forth. Comparative studies of certain anatomical details are illustrated in dogs, cats, mice, rabbits, sheep, goats, cattle, horses, pigs, sharks, and humans. Fabrici's study of embryology probably stimulated William Harvey's (1578-1657) investigations of generation.