Frederik Ruysch

Frederik Ruysch
Frederik Ruysch, by his son-in-law Juriaen Pool
Born	(1638-03-28)March 28, 1638 The Hague
Died	February 22, 1731(1731-02-22) (aged 92) Amsterdam
Nationality	Dutch
Fields	botany, anatomy
Alma mater	University of Leiden

Frederik Ruysch (March 28, 1638 – February 22, 1731) was a Dutch botanist and anatomist, remembered for his developments in anatomical preservation and the creation of dioramas or scenes incorporating human parts. Ruysch came to recognition with his proof of valves in the lymphatic system, the Vomeronasal organ in snakes, and arteria centralis oculi (the central artery of the eye). He was also the first to describe the disease that is today known as Hirschprung disease.

Frederik Ruysch was born in The Hague as the son of a government functionary and started as a pupil of druggist. Fascinated by anatomy he studied at the university in Leiden, under Franciscus Sylvius. His co-students were Jan Swammerdam, Reinier de Graaf and Niels Stensen. Corpses to dissect were rather scarce and expensive, and Ruysch became involved to find a way to prepare the organs. In 1661 he married the daughter of a Dutch architect, named Pieter Post. He graduated in 1664 on pleuritis. Ruysch became praelector of the Amsterdam surgeon's guild in 1667. In 1668 he was made the chief instructor to the city's midwives. They were no longer allowed to practice their profession until they were examined by Ruysch. In 1679 he was appointed as a forensic advisor to the Amsterdam courts and in 1685 as a professor in botany in the Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, where he worked with Jan and Caspar Commelin. Ruysch specialized on the indigenous plants.