Origins & Early Life

Thomas Sydenham (; 10 September 1624 – 29 December 1689) was an English physician. He was the author of Observationes Medicae (1676) which became a standard textbook of medicine for two centuries so that he became known as 'The English Hippocrates'. Among his many achievements was the discovery of a disease, Sydenham's chorea, also known as St Vitus' Dance. To him is attributed the prescient dictum, "A man is as old as his arteries." Thomas Sydenham was born at Wynford Eagle in Dorset, where his father was a gentleman of property.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His brother was Colonel William Sydenham. At the age of eighteen Sydenham attended Magdalen Hall, Oxford; after a short period his college studies appear to have been interrupted, and he served for a time as an officer in the Parliamentarian army during the Civil War. He completed his Oxford course in 1648, graduating as bachelor of medicine, and about the same time he was elected a fellow of All Souls College. It was not until nearly thirty years later (1676) that he graduated as MD, not at Oxford, but at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, where his eldest son was by then an undergraduate. After 1648 he seems to have spent some time studying medicine...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

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