Author: Hektoen International
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Amerigo Vespucci and the Columbian exchange
Amerigo Vespucci, the man who gave Americans their name, was born in Florence in 1454. Educated in a cultured family that exposed him to classical literature, astronomy, mathematics, and geography, he eventually entered the service of Lorenzo de’ Medici, working in banking and commerce. In the early 1490s, Medici sent him to Seville as a…
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Byzantine women in medicine
Brady LonerganFarmington, Connecticut, United States Literary and material evidence includes medical treatises ostensibly written by female physicians and references to female medical writers’ pharmaceutical contributions as early as the late classical period (fifth century BCE) in the Greco-Roman world.1 The second century CE physician Galen cites remedies attributed to Spendousa, Aquilia Secundilla, and Antiochis.2 The…
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Slovakia: History, healthcare, and politics
The present-day territory of Slovakia has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Celtic tribes settled it first, most notably the Boii, who left behind artifacts such as the famous “Biatec” coins. Germanic tribes later moved through the area; then, the Romans incorporated the southern part of Slovakia into their empire, particularly along the Danube frontier. Early…
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A canvas of grief: Claude Monet’s first wife
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States The fame and adoration of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet rests primarily on his landscapes, bathed in sunlight and nourished with a soothing palette. Much of his oeuvre evokes a peaceful, harmonious, and fleeting moment in nature. But one very personal work, Camille Doncieux on her Deathbed, featuring his first…
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Medical quackery in L’elisir d’amore
Donizetti’s comic opera L’elisir d’amore (1832) is more than a charming love story set in the Italian countryside. At its core is one of opera’s most memorable charlatans: Doctor Dulcamara. He is a traveling medicine vendor whose snake-oil salesmanship reveals the human desire for magical solutions. Through Dulcamara, Donizetti and his librettist Felice Romani offer…
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Albania: Tradition and resilience in the Western Balkans
Albania is a small country of 2.5 million people, well worth visiting, known for its striking natural landscapes, rugged mountains dominating much of the interior, and coast offering some of the most beautiful beaches in the Mediterranean. In the north, the Albanian Alps attract hikers and travelers seeking dramatic scenery, while traditional village life in…
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Albanian lovers and magnetism in Così fan tutte
In Così fan tutte, Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte have the two male protagonists, Ferrando and Guglielmo, return in disguise to test, by wager, the fidelity of their fiancées. The choice of the disguise as Albanians, at first sight exotic and comic, resonates deeply with late 18th-century memories of the 1683 Siege of Vienna, in which the Albanians served…
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Marco Polo: A medical perspective
Marco Polo’s journey from Venice to the court of Kublai Khan and back spanned roughly 24 years, from 1271 to 1295. In his account, Il Milione (also known as The Travels of Marco Polo), he documents many aspects of life and medicine in his time. Leaving Venice at seventeen, he visited the arid deserts of…
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The ancient Philistines of Ashkelon and Gaza
The Philistines are remembered primarily through biblical narratives and archaeological discoveries. They interacted with neighboring cultures in the early Iron Age (ca. 1200–600 BCE) and are believed to have been part of the broader “Sea Peoples,” likely originating in the Aegean before settling along the Levantine coast. Excavated skeletal remains at these sites reveal a…
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Death, part of life itself: Vision of a surgeon
Miguel Vassallo PalermoElena Sophia HernandezJosé Manuel GarcíaRhayniveth SequeraKeldrin PáezCaracas, Venezuela Since the dawn of humanity, humans have tried to find meaning in death. People often fear the dying process itself, what comes after death, and the unknown.1 Feelings of powerlessness lead us to surround death with beliefs, rituals, and cultural expressions. From a religious point…