Antonio Maria Valsalva

Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666 to 1723) was an Italian anatomist and surgeon born in Imola, then part of the Papal States. He studied medicine and philosophy at the University of Bologna under Marcello Malpighi, graduated in 1687, served as surgeon at the Hospital of the Incurables in Bologna, and became professor of anatomy at the university in 1705. His research centred on the ear. In his treatise De aure humana tractatus of 1704 he described the middle and internal ear in detail, named the Eustachian tube and set out the manoeuvre of closing the nose and mouth and forcing air toward the ear that still carries his name. His posthumously published writings also described the aortic sinuses that bear his name, and he argued that mentally ill patients deserved humane treatment. His pupil Giovanni Battista Morgagni edited his collected works and wrote his biography in 1740. Valsalva died of a stroke in Bologna and was buried in the church of San Giovanni in Monte.