Jan Jesenius

Jan Jesenius (1566 to 1621), also written Jessenius, Johannes Jessenius, Jeszenszky Janos or Jan Jesensky, was a Bohemian physician, anatomist, politician and philosopher. He worked in Prague, where he became famous for conducting a public dissection of a human body for scientific purposes. He was active in Prague as a physician and anatomist and is also described as a politician and a philosopher, so his work spanned medicine and public life. His life ended violently: he was publicly executed following the Battle of White Mountain in 1621. This entry rests on the short lead of one encyclopedia article, so it records his identity, his fame for the public dissection, and his death, and leaves his writings and teaching for later research.