Niccolò Leoniceno

Who was Niccolò Leoniceno?

Niccolò Leoniceno, also known as Nicolo Leoniceno, Nicolaus Leoninus, Nicolaus Leonicenus of Vicenza, Nicolaus Leonicenus Vicentinus, Nicolo Lonigo, Nicolò da Lonigo da Vincenza, was an Italian physician and humanist.

Leoniceno was born in Lonigo, Veneto, the son of a doctor. He studied Greek in Vicenza under Ognibene da Lonigo. Around 1453 he graduated at the University of Padua, where he studied medicine and philosophy under Pietro Roccabonella Veneziano. In 1464, after completing his doctorate, he moved to the University of Ferrara where he taught mathematics, philosophy and medicine. His students there included Antonio Musa Brassavola.

He was a pioneer in the translation of ancient Greek and Arabic medical texts by such authors as Galen and Hippocrates into Latin.

In 1493, Leoniceno wrote the first scientific paper on syphilis. He died at Ferrara in 1524. He composed the first criticism of the Natural History of Pliny the Elder.