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Pedanius Dioscorides
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Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material"), a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.
Pedanius Dioscorides was a Greek physician and botanist (40–90 AD) who wrote an influential encyclopedia of medicinal plants and herbs that remained the leading reference on the subject for over 1,500 years. His work earned him recognition as "the father of pharmacognosy" because it established him as the most authoritative writer on plant-based medicines for nearly two thousand years.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- ca. 40
- Died
- ca. 90
- Works
- 106
Top works
- Leechdoms, Wortcunning, And Starcraft Of Early England
- Plantas Y Remedios Medicinales/ Medical Plants and Remedies
- Acerca de la materia medicinal y de los venenos mortíferos
- Eupórista Ped. Dioscoridis Anazarbei ad Andromachum, hoc est De curationibus ...
- Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De medica materia libri sex: his accesit ...
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Person.name
- Pedanius Dioscorides
- Person.image
- Dioscorides Vienna (detail) (cropped).jpg
- Person.caption
- Dioscorides receives a mandrake root, an illumination from the 6th century () Greek Juliana Anicia Codex (detail)
- Person.birth_place
- Anazarbus, Cilicia, Asia Minor
- Person.other_names
- Dioscurides
- Person.known_for
- De Materia Medica
- Person.occupation
- Army physician, pharmacologist, botanist
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Ancient Rome
- Place of birth
- Anazarbus
- Occupation
- pharmacologist
- Languages spoken
- Ancient Greek
- Notable work
- De materia medica
- Image
- Dioscorides Vienna (portrait).jpg
Show 11 more facts
- date of birth
- 0040-01-01
- date of death
- 0090-01-01
- described by source
- The Nuttall Encyclopædia
- Commons category
- Pedanius Dioscorides
- present in work
- The Divine Comedy
- writing language
- Ancient Greek
- has works in the collection
- Freer Gallery of Art
- floruit
- 0100-00-00
- name in native language
- Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης
- P13311
- metrology
- Commons Creator page
- Pedanius Dioscorides
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
10 sectionsContents
- Life
- ''De materia medica''
- Legacy
- Gallery
- Translations
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- External links
Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material"), a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.
==Life== A native of Anazarbus, Cilicia, Asia Minor, Dioscorides likely studied medicine nearby at the school in Tarsus, which had a pharmacological emphasis, and he dedicated his medical books to Laecanius Arius, a medical practitioner there. Though he writes he lived a "soldier's life" or "soldier-like life", his pharmacopeia refers almost solely to plants found in the Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean, making it likely that he served in campaigns, or travelled in a civilian capacity, less widely than supposed. The name Pedanius is Roman, suggesting that an aristocrat of that name sponsored him to become a Roman citizen.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pedanius Dioscorides” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.