Caspar Bartholin

Biography

• Born 12 February 1585 in Malmø, Scania
• 1610 – Doctor of Medicine. Defended thesis Paradoxa CCXL: pathologica, simiotica, diaetetica…at the University of Basel
• 1613 – Professor of medicine at the University of Copenhagen
• 1624 – Professor of divinity at the University of Copenhagen; Canon of Roskilde. Surviving a significant illness, Caspar vowed if he should recover he would apply himself solely to the study of divinity
• Died 13 July 1629 in Sorö, Zeeland

Medical Eponyms

Cranial nerves: introduced the terms nervus olfactorius and nervus vagus.

Key Medical Attributions

Major Publications

Published as Jesper Bertelsen, Casparus Bartholinus, Bartholinus Malmogiensis, Gaspard Bartholinus

• Bartholini C. Anatomicae institutiones; corporis humani utriusque sexus historiam et declarationem exhibentes cum plurimis novis observationibus & opinionibus nec non illustriorum quae in anthropologia occurrunt, controversiarum decisionibus. 1611
• Bartholini C. Problematvm philosophicorvm & medicorvm nobiliorum & rariorum. 1611
• Bartholini C. Enchiridion physicum ex priscis et recentioribus philosophis accuratè concinnatum, et controversiis naturalibus potissimis, utilissimisque, illustratum. 1625
• Bartholini C. Opuscula quatuor singularia: I. De unicornu eiusque affinibus et succedaneis. II. De lapide nephritico, et amuletis praecipuis. III. De pygmaeis. IV. Consilium de studio medico inchoando, continuando et absolvendo. 1628
• Bartholini C. De studio theologico. 1628
• Bartholini C, Bartholini B. Anatomia, ex Caspari Bartholini parentis Institutionibus, omniumque recentiorum et propriis observationibus tertiùm ad sanguinis circulationem reformata. Cum iconibus novis accuratissimi. 1651

The Bartholin family

Caspar Bartholin (the elder); two of his sons (Thomas and Rasmus); and his grandson (Caspar the younger) all served on the medical faculty of the University of Copenhagen. Between 1585 and 1738 they gained international acclaim for the institution with significant contributions to anatomical science, physics and medicine.

• Thomas Bartholin (1616 – 1680) famous for his description of the lymphatic system (1653); Bartholin-Patau syndrome (1657); and refrigeration anaesthesia (1661). Professor of anatomy at the University of Copenhagen (1649-1661)
• Caspar Bartholin the younger (1655 – 1738) remembered for Bartholin glands (vulvovaginal) and Bartholin duct (salivary). Professor of philosophy at the University of Copenhagen (1674)

References

• Bibliography. Caspar Bartholin the elder (1585 – 1629). World Cat Identities
• Bartholin, dansk släkt af vetenskapsmän. Nordisk familjebok. 1904: 994
• Porzionato A, Macchi V, De Caro R. The role of Caspar Bartholin the Elder in the evolution of the terminology of the cranial nerves. Ann Anat. 2013;195(1):28‐31.