Prominent Poles
Szymon Syreniusz (Syreński, Syrenius, Sacranus) – Professor of Academy of Krakow, medical doctor, botanist, author of Zielnik (Herbarium), a classical botanical work of Polish Renaissance.
Born: about 1540, Oswiecim, Poland
Died: March 29, 1611, Krakow, Poland
Early days. His father Mikolaj- a burgher. He used latinized versions of his name Syrenski: Syrenius, Syrrenius and Sacranus. In Polish literature he is predominantly called Syreniusz. We don’t know anything about his early days and primary education. During 1560-1569 he studied at the Department of Philosophy (Artium) of the Krakow University and graduated in 1569 obtaining the titles of Master of Liberated Sciences and Philosophy Doctor.
Career. He worked initially as a full time tutor and together with his students went to Ingolstad (Bavaria) where he studied Philosophy during 1570-1573 at the local university. During this time he also visited several private gardens specializing in medicinal plants. During 1573-1577 he studied medicine at the Padua University and got the Doctorate of Medicine. In his free time he observed both cultivated and wild growing plants in the regions of Padua and Venice. In 1578 he returned to Poland and took up residence in Lwow where he practiced medicine and continued his botanical studies. In 1588 he moved to Krakow where he became a doctor for the poor which was endowed by Piotr from Poznan. For his free medical service he obtained from Piotr a house in Krakow. In 1590 he started teaching medicine at the Krakow University and simultaneously worked on Herbarium. In 1600 he became the Head of the Medical Department and in 1602 became the first professor of newly created Botany Chair at the University of Krakow.
Life’s achievement. Zielnik (Herbarium) was published in 1611. It is an illustrated monograph of 1584 pages (!) dealing with 765 useful- mainly medicinal- plants.
Personal. The name of his wife is unknown. He had three daughters: Elzbieta Molenda, Eufemia Wiązownicki and Jadwiga.
Sources Abbreviated and translated from an article in Wikipedia:
Wikipedia (in Polish)
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Prominent Poles
