anatomist, medic
Adam Christian Thebesius - physician, anatomist, world-famous researcher of the circulatory system, well-known physician in Jelenia Góra and the chief physician of the health resort in Cieplice Śląskie Zdrój in the 18th century
Adam Christian Thebesius was born on January 12, 1686 in the village of Sądowel (German: Sandewalde) near Wołów. His parents were: pastor Adam Ludewig Thebesius and Eva Rosina née Hertel. His parents became his first teachers, instilling in him deep faith and love for knowledge. He started his schooling very early, at the age of 5, when he was sent to the municipal school in Złotoryja, where his grandfather, Christian Hertel, was a city councilor. In 1695, Adam was sent to a school in Legnica, where his father had been a deacon at the church St. Peter and Paul. In Legnica, young Thebesius received solid humanistic education. His mother died shortly before the end of his studies at this school. The father decided to educate his son further, sending him in 1700 to the renowned Saint Elizabeth Gymnasium in Wrocław. Here, young Adam consolidated his knowledge in the field of philology, philosophy and theology. Now he only had higher education left.
In 1704, with an excellent opinion, he left for Leipzig, where he entered the university there, starting his philosophical and, above all, medical studies. However, two years later, after the Swedish invasion of Saxony (1706), he was forced to move to the University of Halle, which wasn’t threatened by war. It was there that he met the medical celebrities of the time: Georg Ernet Stahl and Fredrich Hoffmann, who exerted a great deal of influence on the development of the young medic. However, Thebesius did not stay long in Halle either. After one year of studies, he left for the Netherlands to complete his studies at the University of Leiden. Here he was primarily interested in human anatomy, which he thoroughly studied. The result of this long and varied education was the title of doctor of medicine, which he obtained by defending the dissertation on blood circulation in the heart (De circulo sanguinis in corde). This work quickly became renowned and extremely popular in the medical world. It brought many innovative observations, and was the first in the history of medicine to describe the functioning of venous valves in the coronary sinus. No wonder then that it was re-released many times and for many decades it was one of the main scientific studies in the field of bloodstream. This work earned Thebesius such great recognition that he was offered the opportunity to lecture anatomy at Leiden University. However, fate meant that he had to abandon his academic career and return to his native Silesia.
Adam Thebesius’ father died on February 19, 1708 in Legnica. In order to sort out his family property, the young physician had to return to Silesia, where he stayed until his death. However, he did not choose paternal Legnica, or the nearby Złotoryja, where he spent his childhood, but Jelenia Góra, as the place to settle. It is not known why he decided to settle in the Karkonosze Mountains. Maybe he was captivated by the local area? Most likely Jelenia Góra, and the neighboring Cieplice, which was becoming more and more famous for its hot springs, had a shortage of doctors, which meant he could count on work and, consequently, decent living.
Adam Thebesius started working in Jelenia Góra at a private practice. He quickly gained recognition and respect not only from the sick, but also of the entire city community. He was remembered as an extremely modest person, and at the same time serious and very persistent in his endeavors. He also turned out to be an unusually kind and devoutly pious man. In his work, he made no difference between the rich and the poor, and he often treated the latter for free, which was extremely rare with other doctors. It also quickly turned out that his proficiency in the medical art exceeded that of other medics operating in this area. No wonder then that when there was a vacancy for the position of city physicist in 1713, Adam Thebesius was chosen for it. The “city physicist” in the modern era was defined as a medic who held the official medical office in a given city. He was a kind of sanitary inspector, responsible for the entire medical service in the area under his jurisdiction and having a decisive voice in the matters of health, especially during periods of natural disasters or epidemics, which quite often broke out in urban centers. Of course, it always had to be a person with thorough medical education, an unblemished public opinion, and of great personal merit. People for this function, which was often held for life, were chosen by the city council, and the physician who held the office was held in high esteem by the local community, receiving a decent remuneration for his work. Soon after taking the office of physicist in Jelenia Góra, Thebesius received a similar offer from the Cisterians taking the care of the healing springs in Cieplice. He accepted that position too. So he had to deal with the medical administration of the nearby health resort. Moreover, he was often called for medical consultation for the sick monks in Krzeszów.
Thebesius got involved with Jelenia Góra not only professionally, but also on the familial level. On April 19, 1711, he married Johanna Regina Glafey, daughter of one of the richest merchants - Godfried Glafey. However, he did not spend many years with her, as she died on August 5, 1718, leaving him with five children: a daughter and four sons. The daughter, named after her mother Johanna Regina, married on November 16, 1728, the deacon of the Jelenia Góra Evangelical Church, Jeremias Ketzler. And the sons were named: Adam Gottfried, Adam Christian, Johann Ehrenfried and another Adam Christian. Two of the father’s namesakes died in childhood. Adam Gottfried finished theologic and became a pastor (including in Krzywa near Złotoryja). The fourth son, Johann Ehrenfried Thebesius, followed in his father’s footsteps. He graduated from medical studies and also became the city physicist in Jelenia Góra.
Adam Christian Thebesius died at the age of 46 years and ten months on November 11, 1732 at 11 p.m. The cause of death was asthmatic complications. He was buried in the Evangelical cemetery at the Church of Grace in Jeleniej Górze.