Albanus Torinus

Albanus Torinus (1489-1550), the Latinised name of Alban Thorer, was a Swiss physician who was born in 1498 at Winterthur in the canton of Zürich. He studied literature at Basel and, after teaching rhetoric for some years, he at last determined on taking the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Montpellier. Upon his return to Basel in 1537, he was appointed professor of practical medicine, and soon acquired an extensive practice. He died February 23, 1550, at the age of 61. Like several of his contemporaries he employed himself in translating the works of the Greek medical writers into Latin, of which he published the following. He also edited a collection of medical works, such as De Re Medica, also known as Medicina Pliniana, which is generally ascribed to the roman author Plinius Valerianus (4th century BC). It was a very popular medical text during the middle ages.