Yuriy Drohobych
Encyclopedia
Yuriy Drohobych, (1450 in Drohobych
- 4 February 1494 in Krakow
) was a philosopher, astrologist, writer, medical doctor, rector of the University of Bologna
, professor of Kraków Academy, first publisher of a Ukrainian
printed text. He is the author of "Iudicium Pronosticon Anni 1483 Currentis".
in Red Ruthenia
(modern day Ukraine
), to a family of a salt maker. He received his primary education in the local parochial school and after that he studied at a lyceum in L'viv (Lviv
), Ukraine.
(Uniwersytet Jagielloński) in Krakow
. Two years later he received his bachelor's degree and in 1473 his master's. He taught during the summer months and participated in scientific discussions on Saturdays and Sundays. After he gained some significant achievements in Krakow, Drohobych traveled to Bologna University, where natural sciences and medicine were gaining popularity. Here he improved his Latin, learned Greek, and continued his studies of natural philosophy
. He paid special attention to his studies in astronomy. It's worth noting that Drohobych's astronomy professor was Girolamo Manfredi one of the most renown astronomers in 15th century Italy. Manfredi introduced his promising student to German astronomer Johannes Müller (Regiomontanus
) who believed in heliocentrism
; however, it had not been mathematically proven at that time.
disciplines were closely connected. Almost all contemporary philosophers demonstrated equally strong prowess in astronomy and medicine, which allowed university professors to transfer from one department to another. Similar methods were used in teaching both disciplines. It was done through reading and interpretation of Latin translations of Greek and Arab classical authors. Medicine was considered the key to understanding nature. Shortly after Drohobych completed his medical studies, he was offered a position to teach astronomy at Bologna University.
At the beginning of 1481, the student body of the University elected Drohobych to become the rector of the school of Medicine and Free Arts. He was only thirty at the time. For a year, which was the regular term in office for an elected rector, he combined his academic responsibilities, which included teaching astronomy and medical research, with administrative obligations. He had civil and legal authority over the students and faculty who were under his supervision. In 1482 he received his PhD in medicine.
In 1486 Drohobych returned to Krakow. He started his medical practice and also taught medicine at Krakow University. Similar to his peers from Bologna, he based his lectures on the works of Hippocrates
, Galen
, and Avicenna
. A few years later, he received his professorship in medicine and became king Casimir IV
doctor. In 1492 he became the Dean of the Department of Medicine. It was customary at that time for professors to have off-site meetings to discuss with students issues that did not fit the official scientific doctrine. Copernicus attended Drohobych's meetings, however it is not certain whether the former had an influence on the latter.
It's worth noting that that at that time ‘medicine' as we understand the term today was viewed differently in the 15th century. In fact, there were two terms designated to define healing practices. The term ‘medicine
' derived from the Latin verb medico, meaning "to drug". The practice of medicine therefore emphasized an ability to administer curative remedies. Such remedies might be the potions of quacks (quackery
), developed only to make the seller a profit, or therapies that were invented or revised on the basis of experiences of a particular practitioner with patients and remedies. What was crucial to good medical practice was what we call nowadays "clinical experience": an experienced judgment about what remedies would help a particular patient. A medical education in universities, therefore, might supplement, but was not always necessary for "medical" practice. Hence, practitioners of medicine without university degrees were called "empirics" by the educated physicians. For their part, physicians themselves practiced another kind of healing art, "physic". The term derived from the Greek noun physis
, meaning "nature". Physicians had to study natural philosophy because the purposes of physic were to preserve health and prolong life; healing the sick was an important part, but only one of the many parts, of physic. The physician had to be able to offer advice to the healthy as well as to the sick about how to live according to nature, for being in harmony with nature would result in the preservation of health as well as the prolongation of life. Thus "medicine" and "physic," as used in the late 1400s, are terms that suggest the differences between major traditions in the healing arts: one based upon experience, the other upon learning; one concerned primarily with healing, the other primarily with the preservation of health. Drohobych's appointment to King Casimir's court is an indication that he succeeded in both healing fields, because such an important position required extraordinary knowledge of philosophy and natural philosophy as well as practical experience in curing illnesses.
, Drohobych mentioned his calculations of planetary positions during a year. According to his observations and calculations, he estimated the exact time for two lunar eclipses; he also included a chart of the phases of the Moon for a year. In the letter, Drohobych described how he had calculated the geographic locations of major cities in what is now Poland and Ukraine. He also gave predictions concerning political events that had been taking place in Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Arabia, and India. Mykola Chepel shared these notes with his colleagues at Poznan University. The news about Drohobych's findings quickly spread among many learned people in Europe. One of the first German Humanists and book collector, Hartmann Schedel
, copied these letters. In part thanks to his efforts, they were preserved for posterity.
Drohobych wrote a treatise
about the solar eclipse that took place on July 29, 1478. He suggested that cosmic events of this nature may or may not have favorable effects on events on Earth but they certainly would not cause catastrophes. In the early 1480s, Italy was at the forefront of book printing. Initially all publications were of a religious nature, however books about astronomy, botany, and geography had been growing in popularity, too. In 1483 Drohobych published in Rome his first book in Latin "Prognostic Estimation of the year 1483" (Iudicium Pronosticon Anni MCCCCLXXXIII Currentis). It was a nineteen-page publication of astrological (zodiac
) calendars, which were popular at that time, that helped its readers to make predictions about events on Earth depending on the planets' positions. This publication had several noteworthy elements: Drohobych gave accurate predictions for two lunar eclipses; he provided accurate calculations of the phases of the Moon; and he also touched upon the subject of planetary movement. Furthermore, he indicated that the geographic coordinates were an important factor in determining the sun's and planets' positions. Depending on the geographic location of the observer, the positions of cosmic objects would vary. His longitude calculations were not error-free, however. He deserves credit for being the first Eastern European scholar who in a printed publication indicated the exact geographic coordinates of several Ukrainian, Polish, and Lithuanian cities.
Weather forecasting was another aspect of Drohobych's publication. He suggested that by observing atmospheric phenomena, one can predict the weather. He also argued that climatic conditions depended on the latitude of a geographic location. One of the most important aspects of this treatise was the author's vision that the world is not an abstract notion and that humans are capable of learning its patterns and laws. In the foreword to the treatise, Drohobych wrote that even though our eyes cannot see the end of the boundless skies, our mind can. That we learn from the effect about the cause and from the latter we truly learn.
In 1491 Drohobych, published one of the first books in Church Slavonic language "Осьмогласник", ("Octoechos
"or "Antiphonal") and the first books in Ukrainian "Часословець" ("Horologion
" or "Book of Hour"), "Тріодь пісна" and " Тріодь цвітна" (Triodion
). All these publications built the foundation for the further development of the Ukrainian cultural identity.
Yuriy Drohobych died on February 4, 1494 in Krakow. However he left behind a rich legacy. During his tenure on the faculty of Krakow University, humanistic ideas began to gain popularity among professors and students. Drohobych was the first Ukrainian scholar who began to advance these ideas in Ukraine. As time went on, he found many followers among Ukrainian scholars and students who studied in Italy and Poland and who disseminated these ideas upon their return to their homeland. In the mid-1400s, due to the lack of internal and external stimuli, Ukraine's education system slipped into decay. Drohobych and his followers created a niche that helped to preserve, sustain, and develop socio-cultural and philosophical ideas that lay the foundation for Ukraine's revival by the 17th and 18th centuries, which played an important role in preserving the national identity at a time when Ukrainian lands belong to different rulers.
Drohobych
Drohobych is a city located at the confluence of the Tysmenytsia River and Seret, a tributary of the former, in the Lviv Oblast , in western Ukraine...
- 4 February 1494 in Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
) was a philosopher, astrologist, writer, medical doctor, rector of the University of Bologna
University of Bologna
The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
, professor of Kraków Academy, first publisher of a Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
printed text. He is the author of "Iudicium Pronosticon Anni 1483 Currentis".
Biography
Yuriy Drohobych was born in the city of DrohobychDrohobych
Drohobych is a city located at the confluence of the Tysmenytsia River and Seret, a tributary of the former, in the Lviv Oblast , in western Ukraine...
in Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia is the name used since medieval times to refer to the area known as Eastern Galicia prior to World War I; first mentioned in Polish historic chronicles in the 1321, as Ruthenia Rubra or Ruthenian Voivodeship .Ethnographers explain that the term was applied from the...
(modern day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), to a family of a salt maker. He received his primary education in the local parochial school and after that he studied at a lyceum in L'viv (Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
), Ukraine.
Education
In 1468 Yuriy Drohobych entered the Jagiellonian UniversityJagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
(Uniwersytet Jagielloński) in Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. Two years later he received his bachelor's degree and in 1473 his master's. He taught during the summer months and participated in scientific discussions on Saturdays and Sundays. After he gained some significant achievements in Krakow, Drohobych traveled to Bologna University, where natural sciences and medicine were gaining popularity. Here he improved his Latin, learned Greek, and continued his studies of natural philosophy
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
. He paid special attention to his studies in astronomy. It's worth noting that Drohobych's astronomy professor was Girolamo Manfredi one of the most renown astronomers in 15th century Italy. Manfredi introduced his promising student to German astronomer Johannes Müller (Regiomontanus
Regiomontanus
Johannes Müller von Königsberg , today best known by his Latin toponym Regiomontanus, was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, translator and instrument maker....
) who believed in heliocentrism
Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...
; however, it had not been mathematically proven at that time.
Teaching
In 1478 Drohobych received his doctorate in philosophy, but he continued his studies. This time he took up medicine. At that time natural philosophyNatural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
disciplines were closely connected. Almost all contemporary philosophers demonstrated equally strong prowess in astronomy and medicine, which allowed university professors to transfer from one department to another. Similar methods were used in teaching both disciplines. It was done through reading and interpretation of Latin translations of Greek and Arab classical authors. Medicine was considered the key to understanding nature. Shortly after Drohobych completed his medical studies, he was offered a position to teach astronomy at Bologna University.
At the beginning of 1481, the student body of the University elected Drohobych to become the rector of the school of Medicine and Free Arts. He was only thirty at the time. For a year, which was the regular term in office for an elected rector, he combined his academic responsibilities, which included teaching astronomy and medical research, with administrative obligations. He had civil and legal authority over the students and faculty who were under his supervision. In 1482 he received his PhD in medicine.
In 1486 Drohobych returned to Krakow. He started his medical practice and also taught medicine at Krakow University. Similar to his peers from Bologna, he based his lectures on the works of Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...
, Galen
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
, and Avicenna
Avicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
. A few years later, he received his professorship in medicine and became king Casimir IV
Casimir IV
Casimir IV may refer to:*Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon*Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania...
doctor. In 1492 he became the Dean of the Department of Medicine. It was customary at that time for professors to have off-site meetings to discuss with students issues that did not fit the official scientific doctrine. Copernicus attended Drohobych's meetings, however it is not certain whether the former had an influence on the latter.
It's worth noting that that at that time ‘medicine' as we understand the term today was viewed differently in the 15th century. In fact, there were two terms designated to define healing practices. The term ‘medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
' derived from the Latin verb medico, meaning "to drug". The practice of medicine therefore emphasized an ability to administer curative remedies. Such remedies might be the potions of quacks (quackery
Quackery
Quackery is a derogatory term used to describe the promotion of unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or...
), developed only to make the seller a profit, or therapies that were invented or revised on the basis of experiences of a particular practitioner with patients and remedies. What was crucial to good medical practice was what we call nowadays "clinical experience": an experienced judgment about what remedies would help a particular patient. A medical education in universities, therefore, might supplement, but was not always necessary for "medical" practice. Hence, practitioners of medicine without university degrees were called "empirics" by the educated physicians. For their part, physicians themselves practiced another kind of healing art, "physic". The term derived from the Greek noun physis
Physis
Physis is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as "nature."In The Odyssey, Homer uses the word once , referring to the intrinsic way of growth of a particular species of plant. In the pre-Socratic philosophers it developed a complex of other...
, meaning "nature". Physicians had to study natural philosophy because the purposes of physic were to preserve health and prolong life; healing the sick was an important part, but only one of the many parts, of physic. The physician had to be able to offer advice to the healthy as well as to the sick about how to live according to nature, for being in harmony with nature would result in the preservation of health as well as the prolongation of life. Thus "medicine" and "physic," as used in the late 1400s, are terms that suggest the differences between major traditions in the healing arts: one based upon experience, the other upon learning; one concerned primarily with healing, the other primarily with the preservation of health. Drohobych's appointment to King Casimir's court is an indication that he succeeded in both healing fields, because such an important position required extraordinary knowledge of philosophy and natural philosophy as well as practical experience in curing illnesses.
Publications
His teaching at Bologna did not interfere with his experiments in astronomy. In a letter which he sent in early 1478 to his friend Mykola Chepel in PoznanPoznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Drohobych mentioned his calculations of planetary positions during a year. According to his observations and calculations, he estimated the exact time for two lunar eclipses; he also included a chart of the phases of the Moon for a year. In the letter, Drohobych described how he had calculated the geographic locations of major cities in what is now Poland and Ukraine. He also gave predictions concerning political events that had been taking place in Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Arabia, and India. Mykola Chepel shared these notes with his colleagues at Poznan University. The news about Drohobych's findings quickly spread among many learned people in Europe. One of the first German Humanists and book collector, Hartmann Schedel
Hartmann Schedel
Hartmann Schedel was a German physician, humanist, historian, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing press. He was born in Nuremberg...
, copied these letters. In part thanks to his efforts, they were preserved for posterity.
Drohobych wrote a treatise
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
about the solar eclipse that took place on July 29, 1478. He suggested that cosmic events of this nature may or may not have favorable effects on events on Earth but they certainly would not cause catastrophes. In the early 1480s, Italy was at the forefront of book printing. Initially all publications were of a religious nature, however books about astronomy, botany, and geography had been growing in popularity, too. In 1483 Drohobych published in Rome his first book in Latin "Prognostic Estimation of the year 1483" (Iudicium Pronosticon Anni MCCCCLXXXIII Currentis). It was a nineteen-page publication of astrological (zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
) calendars, which were popular at that time, that helped its readers to make predictions about events on Earth depending on the planets' positions. This publication had several noteworthy elements: Drohobych gave accurate predictions for two lunar eclipses; he provided accurate calculations of the phases of the Moon; and he also touched upon the subject of planetary movement. Furthermore, he indicated that the geographic coordinates were an important factor in determining the sun's and planets' positions. Depending on the geographic location of the observer, the positions of cosmic objects would vary. His longitude calculations were not error-free, however. He deserves credit for being the first Eastern European scholar who in a printed publication indicated the exact geographic coordinates of several Ukrainian, Polish, and Lithuanian cities.
Weather forecasting was another aspect of Drohobych's publication. He suggested that by observing atmospheric phenomena, one can predict the weather. He also argued that climatic conditions depended on the latitude of a geographic location. One of the most important aspects of this treatise was the author's vision that the world is not an abstract notion and that humans are capable of learning its patterns and laws. In the foreword to the treatise, Drohobych wrote that even though our eyes cannot see the end of the boundless skies, our mind can. That we learn from the effect about the cause and from the latter we truly learn.
In 1491 Drohobych, published one of the first books in Church Slavonic language "Осьмогласник", ("Octoechos
Octoechos
Oktōēchos is the name of the eight mode system used for the composition of religious chant in Syrian, Coptic, Byzantine, Armenian, Latin and Slavic churches since the middle ages...
"or "Antiphonal") and the first books in Ukrainian "Часословець" ("Horologion
Horologion
The 'Horologion' , or Book of Hours, provides the fixed portions of the Daily Cycle of services as used by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches...
" or "Book of Hour"), "Тріодь пісна" and " Тріодь цвітна" (Triodion
Triodion
The Triodion , also called the Lenten Triodion , is the liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine rite during Great Lent, the three preparatory weeks leading up to it, and during Holy Week.Many canons in the Triodion contain only three odes or...
). All these publications built the foundation for the further development of the Ukrainian cultural identity.
Yuriy Drohobych died on February 4, 1494 in Krakow. However he left behind a rich legacy. During his tenure on the faculty of Krakow University, humanistic ideas began to gain popularity among professors and students. Drohobych was the first Ukrainian scholar who began to advance these ideas in Ukraine. As time went on, he found many followers among Ukrainian scholars and students who studied in Italy and Poland and who disseminated these ideas upon their return to their homeland. In the mid-1400s, due to the lack of internal and external stimuli, Ukraine's education system slipped into decay. Drohobych and his followers created a niche that helped to preserve, sustain, and develop socio-cultural and philosophical ideas that lay the foundation for Ukraine's revival by the 17th and 18th centuries, which played an important role in preserving the national identity at a time when Ukrainian lands belong to different rulers.
Comments
- Drohobych was not Russian if we apply the modern understanding of this term. He was Rusyn from Red RutheniaRed RutheniaRed Ruthenia is the name used since medieval times to refer to the area known as Eastern Galicia prior to World War I; first mentioned in Polish historic chronicles in the 1321, as Ruthenia Rubra or Ruthenian Voivodeship .Ethnographers explain that the term was applied from the...
. He was born in the Kingdom of Poland and taught in Krakow, also in the Kingdom of Poland. At the time when he lived, Russia was known as Grand Duchy of MoscowGrand Duchy of MoscowThe Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....
and did not include present day Ukraine, which, for the most part, was a part of Lithuania. - The first book in a Slavic language was Missale Romanum GlagoliticeMissale Romanum GlagoliticeMissale Romanum Glagolitice is a Croatian language missal printed in 1483. It is written in Glagolitic script and is the first printed Croatian book and one of the first South Slavonic printed books. It is the first missal in Europe not published in Latin script...
in Croatian.
Further reading
- Encyclopedia of Ukraine
- Юрий Дрогобыч в контексте формирования украинской элиты. // День. — 2 августа 2003 года. — С. 5
- Гайдай Л. Історія України в особах, термінах, назвах і поняттях. — Луцьк: Вежа, 2000.
- Yuriy Drohobych biography by Yaroslav Isaievych, Kiev, 1972.