Gaspare Aselli

Gaspare Aselli, engraving by Cesare Bassano

Gaspare Aselli (or Asellio) (c. 1581–14 April 1626) was an Italian physician noted for the discovery of the lacteal vessels of the lymphatic system. Aselli discovered (or rediscovered) the chylous vessels, and studied systematically the significance of these vascular structures.

Biography

He was born in Cremona, when that city was under Spanish rule, and became professor of anatomy and surgery at the university of Pavia. He later practised medicine in Milan, where he died. He is buried close to Porta Venezia.

His description of the lacteals, De lactibus sive Lacteis venis, was published in 1627 at Milan, thanks to the liberality of Fabri de Peiresc.

A "liceo" bears his name in Cremona.

Works

• De lactibus, sive lacteis venis, 1640

Further reading

• Premuda, Loris (1970). "Aselli, Gaspare". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 315–316. ISBN 0-684-10114-9.
• Stirling, William; Banting, Frederick Grant. Some apostles of physiology: being an account of their lives and labours, labours that have contributed to the advancement of the healing, p. 13