Leonardo Botallo
Italian anatomist
Leonardo Botallo or Leonardi Botalli Astensis in Latin (1530 – c. 1587) was an Italian anatomist who is remembered in the eponymous foramen Botalli which allows blood in the fetal heart of humans to move from the left to the right atrium and the ductus Botalli connecting the pulmonary artery to the proximal descending aorta although both are now thought to be incorrectly attributed to him as these were added in posthumous editions of his work. He published several treatises including De curandis vulneribus sclopettorum (1560) which examined gunshot wounds and questioned the contemporary theory that gunshot wounds were to be treated as if they were poisoned.
Biography
Botallo was born in Asti in a noble family ("Botal" means barrel and could suggest a family history of trade in wine). He studied at the University of Pavia, graduating in medicine around 1543 with lessons under Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562). A brother was a professor of surgery at Pavia University under whom Botallo practiced. He then worked in the service of French nobility and received the role of counselor to King Henry II around 1550. His adoption of bloodletting as a medical practice earned criticism from Bonaventure Grangier, Jacques Poms and other French physicians. In 1586 he suffered from malaria. He is known for his 1560 treatise on the treatment of wounds from guns, De curandis vulneribus sclopettorum.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q346467. VIAF identifies the subject as 14884105. The Library of Congress control number is n81043952. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1530, 1587, 1560 and 1543.
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This entry incorporates text from “Leonardo Botallo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.