From Prussia to Italy : professor Melchiorre Guilandini of University of Padua and his journeys

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The main aim of this article is to present a brief biography of Melchiorre Guilandini, a professor at the University of Padua, who lived and worked in the 16th century. Although Gulandini was quite an outstanding figure in his times, he is practically unknown in Polish literature. His real name was Wieland, although he preferred to use its italianicised form - Melchiorre Guilandini. He was born around 1520 in Prussia, which back then was part of the Kingdom of Poland. Having completed his studies at the universities in Königsberg, Padua and Bologna, where he obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine, he settled down in Padua. Here, under the supervision and patronage of Gabrielle Falloppio,a famous surgeon and one of the professors at the University of Padua, he continued to increase his knowledge in the fields of medicine and botany. In 1558 Guialdini set out on a dangerous journey to the Eastern countries. He explored the shores of the Adriatic and Aegean Seas and the regions between Istanbul and Cairo, which at that time belonged to the Ottoman Empire. During his journey he examined rare species of flora and fauna. Intending to travel to India, he boarded a ship headed to Portugal. Near the harbour of Caligari their galley was attacked by Algerian pirates. Guilandini was enslaved by the pirates and spent several months on their ship until, by some lucky coincidence, he was found by his patron and redeemed. After he returned to Padua in 1561 he was appointed head and curator of the Botanical Garden. At that time he had already acquired a reputation as a world class expert on European, Asian and African flora. It was exactly for this reason that the university authorities appointed him head of the newly established Department of Botany. He taught most of his classes in Orto Botanico and in doing so he triggered the development of a new science - pharmacology. In 1578 he was awarded a lifelong professorship. Guilandini rendered considerable services to the Botanical Garden in Padua - he reorganised and modernised it as well as improved the way it was managed. Under his management the Garden collection was considerably enriched and the grounds housing it were enlarged. Guilandini imported rare and unknown plants, roots and medicinal herbs, enlarged the orangery and the buildings which were used as classrooms. He also organised and led many new scientific expeditions. Guilandini corresponded with the most famous European botanists of his times. His works often appeared in print and he was repeatedly invited to participate in international debates during which the greatest scientific minds shared their views on a variety of botanical and medicine-related issues. He educated many outstanding students, who continued his work on the further development of pharmacology. Among this elite group there were some Polish students, for example Jan Zamoyski, Lord Chancellor of the Crown, who offered him the position of the chair of botany at Collegium Regium, a newly organised University in Kraków. Guilandini was on friendly terms with the members of the Venetian intellectual elite, who often supported his scientific endeavours. It is claimed that Guilandini was asked to concoct a poison, which was given to a Turkish envoy. Yet, according to thesources, the poison failed to achieve the desired effect. Melchiorre Guilandini considered himself German, which he repeatedly emphasised in the surviving correspondence (e.g. the letters located in Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna). He also accentuated his German identity in his daily contacts with German scholars working at the University of Padua. Guilandini died on January 8th, 1589. On his deathbed he managed to make a will, in which he bequeathed his entire book collection to St. Mark’s Library in Venice. He also donated over one thousand gold ducats to the Republic of Venice in acknowledgement of the help and support received from the Venetian government. Orto Botanico was inscribed onto UNESCO World Heritage List in December 1997.