24 Facts About Guillaume Rondelet

Guillaume Rondelet achieved renown as an anatomist and a naturalist with a particular interest in botany and ichthyology.

Guillaume Rondelet's major work was a lengthy treatise on marine animals, which took two years to write and became a standard reference work for about a century afterwards, but his lasting impact lay in his education of a roster of star pupils who became leading figures in the world of late-16th century science.

Guillaume Rondelet's father was an, a combination of pharmacist, grocer and druggist.

Guillaume Rondelet's father died while he was a child and he was brought up in the care of his elder brother.

Guillaume Rondelet's health was poor until he reached the age of 18.

Guillaume Rondelet was educated in Montpellier and was sent to Paris in 1525, where he studied Latin and Philosophy at the University of Paris.

Guillaume Rondelet matriculated in 1529 and returned to Montpellier; having developed an interest in medicine, he joined the Faculty of Medicine at his home town's university.

Guillaume Rondelet became friends around this time with a fellow physician, Francois Rabelais, who later wrote La vie de Gargantua et Pantagruel in which Rondelet is satirised under the thinly disguised alias of "Rondibilis".

Guillaume Rondelet moved to Pertuis in the Vaucluse after gaining his bachelor's degree from Montpellier and tried to supplement his income by teaching local children, but met with little success.

Guillaume Rondelet went back to Paris to learn Greek and to study anatomy, again supporting himself through teaching.

Guillaume Rondelet practised for a while as a medical doctor at Maringues in the Auvergne before returning to Montpellier in 1537.

Guillaume Rondelet managed his finances badly and he outraged the citizens of Montpellier when he publicly dissected his infant son in an attempt to determine the cause of death.

Guillaume Rondelet became a teacher with the medical faculty in 1539 but the arrival of plague in Montpellier a few years later meant that he found himself with almost nobody to teach; only three students were left by 1543.

Guillaume Rondelet's fortunes revived when he gained a powerful patron, Cardinal Francois de Tournon, whom he attended as his personal physician.

De Tournon and the Bishop of Montpellier, Guillaume Pellicier, had both stood as sponsors for Rondelet's twin children on their birth in 1538.

Guillaume Rondelet left Montpellier and travelled with de Tournon in the Cardinal's entourage, journeying widely around France, what is Belgium and Italy and stayed in Rome for thirteen months in 1549 and 1550.

Guillaume Rondelet's rising status was confirmed in 1545 by his appointment to the post of Regius Professor of Medicine at Montpellier.

Guillaume Rondelet returned to his home town in 1551 on leaving the service of the cardinal and devoted two years to the writing of a great treatise on marine animals, titled Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus verae piscium effigies expressae sunt.

Guillaume Rondelet tackled the question of whether freshwater sea creatures could live in marine environments and vice versa.

Guillaume Rondelet's approach was broadly similar to that of Aristotle in that he focused on the functional aspects of a creature and examined why and how a particular feature or organ functioned.

Guillaume Rondelet dissected and illustrated numerous creatures; his anatomical drawing of a sea urchin is the earlier extant depiction of an invertebrate and he found important anatomical similarities between dolphins, pigs and humans.

Guillaume Rondelet was a popular and effective teacher and lecturer and was elected chancellor of Montpellier University in 1556.

Guillaume Rondelet taught Jean Bauhin and Felix Platter, the latter arriving at Montpellier aged only 15 after riding a pony all the way from Basel in Switzerland.

Guillaume Rondelet himself was drawn into the religious dispute when his friend Bishop Pellicier was imprisoned, prompting Guillaume Rondelet to make a public protest by burning his own theology books.