Adriaan van den Spiegel

Who was Adriaan van den Spiegel?

Adriaan van den Spiegel, name sometimes written as Adrianus Spigelius was a Flemish anatomist born in Brussels. For much of his career he practiced medicine in Padua, and is considered one of the great physicians associated with the city. At Padua he studied anatomy under Girolamo Fabrici.

His best written work on anatomy is De humani corporis fabrica libri X tabulis aere icisis exornati, being published posthumously in 1627. He borrowed the title from De humani corporis fabrica, written by his fellow countryman, Vesalius, who had also studied in Padua. The book was intended as an update in medical thinking about anatomy. In his 1624 treatise De semitertiana libri quatuor, he gave the first comprehensive description of malaria.

Spiegel also did work as a botanist. The genus Spigelia is named after him. Traditionally, the rhizome and roots of Spigelia marilandica were used as a cure for intestinal parasites.

An uncommon hernia of the abdominal wall that he first described is called a "Spigelian hernia".