[Thomas Platter (1499?-1582), seen by an universitary member and a doctor]

Thomas Platter was born in a rural environment in Grisons, he was a farmer's son, became a shepherd and later a vagabond. It seems to be a miracle that, at the age of 21, he decided to learn reading and writing, not only in his mother tongue German but also in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. After a few years only he became a teacher of these languages in Basel, where he founded the first "gymnasium". Afterwards he started a career becoming one of the great humanists of his epoch. The fact that his influence was mainly founded on verbal education and not in writing books leads us to the problem to decide whether only written papers are the most relevant contribution to mental education or also teaching might have similar important influence on the development of a certain "zeitgeist". Thomas Platter also tried to become a physician, and its not quite clear whether he made many efforts in his direction to attain an estimated role in society or because he expected to earn more money. The crucial motivation, however, seems to be his curiousness to acquire knowledge also in this field, at a time when anatomy was the main trend in medical research. Thomas Platter can be regarded an outstanding representative of his ear - his life be describe in one of the first autobiographies in history.