Garcia de Orta was a Renaissance Portuguese medical doctor and naturalist. He was the pioneer of tropical medicine. Jump to: navigation, search By region Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance English Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Il Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... Tropical medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with health problems that either occur uniquely in tropical and subtropical regions or are either more widespread in the tropics or more difficult to prevent or control. ...

His Life

He was born in Castelo de Vide in 1501, the son of Fernando (Isaac) da Orta, a merchant, and Leonor Gomes. He died in 1568 (presumed dates). His parents were spanish marranos (jewish converts or crypto-jews) who had taken refuge, as many others did, in Portugal at the time of the great expulsion of the spanish jews by the Reyes Catolicos Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in 1492. // Events Alexander becomes King of Poland. ... Events March 23 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. ... The term marrano refers to the Sephardim, Jews from the Iberian peninsula, who were forced to adopt the identity of Christians, either through coercion as consequence of the cruel persecution of Jews by the Spanish Inquisition, or for forms sake, and became Catholic converts. ... Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the words for prepared and journey. ... Isabella of Castile (Spanish: Ysabel, Isabel or Isabela) (22 April 1451 - 26 November 1504) was queen of Castile. ... Jump to: navigation, search Events January 2 - Boabdil, the last Moorish King of Granada, surrenders his city to the army of Ferdinand and Isabella after a lengthy siege. ...

He studied Medicine, Art and Natural philosophy at the Universities of Alcalá de Henares and Salamanca in Spain. He returned to Portugal in 1523 after graduating and practiced Medicine first in his hometown, then in Lisbon. There, he befriended the great mathematician Pedro Nunes. As a well known clinician, he ascended to the position of Royal Physician to the King of Portugal, John II of Portugal. He was appointed Chair of Natural philosophy at the University of Coimbra in 1530. Medicine on the Web NLM (National Library of Medicine, contains resources for patients and healthcare professionals) Virtual Hospital (digital health sciences library by the University of Iowa) Online Medical Dictionary Collection of links to free medical resources Categories: Medicine | Health ... Resources ArtLex. ... Natural philosophy is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe before the development of modern science. ... Alcalá de Henares is a Spanish city. ... Region La Armuña Province Salamanca Autonomous community Castilla y León Postal code 37001-370nn Coordinates  - Latitude:  - Longitude 40°58 N 5º40 W Altitude 802 m Surface 386 km² Distances 212 km to Madrid 115 km to Valladolid Population  - Total (2004)  - Density 157. ... Events April - Battle of Villalar - Forces loyal to Emperor Charles V defeat the Comuneros, a league of urban bourgeois rebelling against Charles in Spain. ... Jump to: navigation, search District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ... Pedro Nunes (latin, Petrus Nonius), (1502, Alcácer do Sal – August 11, 1578, Coimbra) was a Portuguese mathematician, born from a New Christian (of Jewish origin) family. ... John III was the name of a number of rulers: Pope John III John III of Constantinople John III Ducas Vatatzes John III of Poland John III of Portugal John III of Sweden John III, Duke of Brabant John III, Duke of Brittany This is a disambiguation page — a navigational... Natural philosophy is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe before the development of modern science. ... Jump to: navigation, search The University of Coimbra (Portuguese: Universidade de Coimbra) is a Portuguese public university in Coimbra, Portugal. ... Events June 25 - Augsburg confession presented to Charles V of Holy Roman Empire. ...

However fearing that the portuguese Inquisition was moving against him, against which even the King was often impotent, he departed to India in 1534 as Chief Physician aboard the armada of the Viceroy Martim Afonso de Sousa. Jump to: navigation, search Pedro Berruguete. ... Events February 27 - Group of Anabaptists of Jan Matthys seize Münster and declare it The New Jerusalem - they begin to exile dissenters and forcible baptize all others May 10 - Jacques Cartier explores Newfoundland while searching for the Northwest Passage. ... A viceroy is somebody who governs a country or province as a substitute for the monarch. ... Martim Afonso de Sousa (1500-1571) was a Portuguese explorer. ...

In India, he first worked in the capital Goa as Chief Physician. There, he befriended the Poet Luís Vaz de Camões, who would become Portugal's national poet. Soon aftwards, thanks to his service to the Vice-Roy, he was granted the Foro or Lordship of the island and town of Mumbai (Bombay), then a part of portuguese India. There, he established himself in his estate where he built his botanical garden, library and museum. He acquired wealth as a merchant of rare medicines and herbs. Jump to: navigation, search Goa (गोअ in DevanāgarÄ«) is Indias smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population after Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. ... Luís de Camões Monument to Luís de Camões, Lisbon Luís Vaz de Camões (sometimes rendered in English as Camoens) (1524 – June 10, 1580) is considered Portugals greatest poet. ... Jump to: navigation, search Mumbai (Marathi: मुंबई ) (pronounced in Marathi, and in English), formerly known as Bombay is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city with a 2005 estimated population of about 13 million. ...

He married a rich old-christian (that is an aristocrat without Jewish ascendacy) woman, Brianda de Solis, in 1543 but the marriage soon failed. // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ...

In 1565, the Inquisition was introduced to the Indian Vice-Kingdom and a Tribunal was opened in Goa. Active persecution against jews, crypto-jews and new christians began. Orta's sister Catarina was condemned of Judaism and burned at the stake in an Auto de fe in Goa in 1568 or 1569. Events March 1 - the city of Rio de Janeiro is founded April 27 - Cebu City is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jews were banished from Portugal in 1496. ... Jump to: navigation, search Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ... Pedro Berruguete. ... Events March 23 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. ... Events January 11 - First recorded lottery in England. ...

Orta died in 1568 in Goa of natural causes. In 1580, post-mortem, he was judged and condemned for "the crime of Judaism", and his bones were exumed from Goa's Cathedral and burned in the practice of posthumous execution. His books were also censured and burnt. Events March 23 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. ... Events March 1 - Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. ... Jump to: navigation, search Posthumous execution is the ritual execution of an already dead body. ...

His Work

Garcia de Orta was a true Renaissance man, fluent in many languages (portuguese, spanish, hebrew, latin, greek, arabic), and in many sciences. He reveals in his commentaries a - rare at the time - lack of awe before the writings of the ancient authorities. As he put it in his famous book, "it was enough to see well in order to do good science." This article is about the 1994 film. ...

His greatest scientific contributions came as a result of his years living in India. He was the first European to describe asiatic tropical diseases and to catalogue many asiatic medicinal herbs. He also discussed medical matters with and learned from Arab, Persian and Hindu physicians. He performed the first autopsy in India on a man who died of cholera, the first scientifically documented case of this disease. Jump to: navigation, search The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are an originally Arabian ethnicity widespread in the Middle East and North Africa. ... Persian can refer to: the Western name for Iranian (see Iran/Persia naming controversy) the Persian Empire the Persians the Persian language the Persian (cat) breed the Persian melon the Persian lamb the Persian rug (or carpet) the Persian type of Pokémon character See also Persia (disambiguation page) List... Jump to: navigation, search It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hindu people. ... An autopsy (also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy or obduction) is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination performed on a corpse after death, to evaluate disease or injury that may be present and to determine the cause and manner of a persons death. ... Jump to: navigation, search Cholera (also called Asiatic cholera) is an infectious disease, caused by bacteria that are typically ingested by drinking water that is contaminated by improper sanitation, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ...

He had a garden and museum where he studied and cultivated rare plants from all over the Indian Ocean and China, as well as some of European origin. The information he gathered was recorded in his book Colóquios dos simples e drogas he cousas medicinais da Índia e assi dalguas frutas achadas nella onde se tratam alguas cousas boas pera saber ("Conversations on simple drugs and medicinal matters from India and also of some fruits found there; and on some matters good to know") which was published in Goa in 1563. The book included the first published verses by his friend, poet Luís de Camões (Portugal's National Poet), who was instrumental in persuading the Viceroy to authorise and patronize it. Jump to: navigation, search Goa (गोअ in DevanāgarÄ«) is Indias smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population after Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. ... Events February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia February 18 - The Duke of Guise is assassinated while besieging Orléans March - Peace of Amboise. ... Luís de Camões Monument to Luís de Camões, Lisbon Luís Vaz de Camões (sometimes rendered in English as Camoens) (c. ... A viceroy is somebody who governs a country or province as a substitute for the monarch. ...

The book was soon recognized across Europe and translations in Latin (then the scientific lingua-franca) and other languages were made, introducing many drugs to western medicine unknown until then. Jump to: navigation, search Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Today, Garcia de Orta's book is still valued by modern pharmaceutical researchers because some of the herbs described have not yet been identified (presumably because they are very rare) and could contain useful substances still unknown to science.