Albrecht von Haller Facts
Albrecht von Haller Facts
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| Interesting Albrecht von Haller Facts: |
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| Von Haller was born in Bern, Switzerland, and from an early age demonstrated an uncanny knack for science and study. |
| Due to poor healthy and an overall sickly nature, von Haller was kept inside and left to study and read for much of his life, rather than enjoying the outdoors like boys of his age and social class would have done. |
| Due to his father's wealth, he also had access to great works of literature and other reading material, as well as an extensive lineup of tutors and learning opportunities. |
| Before turning to the sciences, von Haller studied the classics in great detail, especially the works of Greek and Roman philosophers. He had translated many of these philosophers' works before he was even ten years old. |
| After his father's untimely death, von Haller went to live with a physician and his family, which sparked his interest in anatomy and physiology. |
| Von Haller studied an incredibly diverse field of academics under some of the top names in their disciplines, including his time studying mathematics under Bernoulli and anatomy under Jacob Winslow. |
| His resulting education gave von Haller a vast body of knowledge in both human anatomy and in biology, and he became a physician for some time. |
| King George II, after learning about von Haller's extensive writings and teaching, appointed him to chair the departments of medicine, botany, anatomy, and surgery at the then-newly established University of Gottingen. |
| During the nearly two decades that he served at the university, von Haller's reputation as a tireless academic, religious thinker, and innovator were well earned. |
| He established a literary journal at the university, along with a surgical theater for instruction, an obstetrics school, a medical museum, the school's botanical gardens, and much more. |
| Von Haller is also said to have helped push forward the construction of a new Reformed church in the town. |
| Throughout this scientific career, von Haller continued to write and publish one of his longtime and earliest loves, poetry; one of his poems on the life of mountain people in the Alps was considered one of the first-ever examinations of mountains as an object of natural beauty and fascination. |
| Von Haller's own lifetime of poor health was possibly exacerbated by the use of opium to treat his illnesses and pain, resulting in his death in 1777. |
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