Herman Boerhaave

Herman Boerhaave, who lived from 1668 to 1738, was a Dutch chemist, botanist, Christian humanist and physician born at Voorhout near Leiden, the son of a Protestant pastor. He took a master's degree in philosophy at the University of Leiden in 1690 and a medical doctorate at Harderwijk in 1693, was appointed lecturer on the institutes of medicine at Leiden in 1701, and became professor of botany and medicine in 1709, improving the botanic garden of Leiden. From 1714 he held the chair of practical medicine and helped to popularize clinical instruction, and in 1718 he took the chair of chemistry as well; his Elementa Chemiae of 1732 is recognised as the first text on chemistry. He was the first to isolate urea from urine, the first physician to put thermometer measurements to clinical practice, and the first to describe the oesophageal tear now called Boerhaave syndrome. His fame drew students and visitors from across Europe, including Peter the Great, Voltaire and Carl Linnaeus, who named the genus Boerhavia for him. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1728 and to the Royal Society of London two years later, and he died at Leiden in 1738.