| Peter Charles Remondino | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1846 Turin, Italy |
| Died | December 1926 (aged 79–80) San Diego, California |
| Fields | Medicine |
| Alma mater | Jefferson Medical College |
Peter Charles Remondino (1846–December 10, 1926) was a physician, author,[1] first president of the San Diego Board of Health, and co-founder of San Diego’s first private hospital.[2] In the course of a medical career spanning 55 years, he served with the Union forces during the American Civil War as surgeon. He also served as a surgeon during the Franco-Prussian War, for which he was awarded a medal by the French Government for his services.[2]
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Remondino's family had a history of being involved in medicine for centuries. His earliest known ancestor named Remondino is one discussed in the third volume of the Dizionario Biografico Universale 1844 Florence edition, in which the ancestor is described as "Mondino, abbreviation of Remondino, latinized as Mundinus, a celebrated anatomist, a native of Milan, according to some authorities, and of Florence according to others, towards the end of the thirteenth century, died in Bologna in 1326."[3] This ancestor made the first European study of anatomy based on human dissections, for which he needed to obtain permission from the Pope. Receiving permission, the original Remondino performed the first human dissections in Europe in his Bologna amphitheatre.[3]
There were several other medical members of the family, among them those who have held the chair of anatomy in the University of Bologna, retaining the name of Mondino. Another relative changed his name to Mindinus and held a similar professional chair in the University of Padua.[3]
Remondino was born in Turin, Italy, in 1846 to a Protestant family.[1] Turin was part of the Piedmont area of the Kingdom of Sardinia at that time. At the age of eight he emigrated to America with his father, arriving in New York and eventually settling in Minnesota. Remondino studied in a one-room schoolhouse from 1857 to 1861, supplementing his lessons by readings from his father's vast library. Besides history, math, and the sciences, Remondino learned various languages including French, German, Latin, and Sioux.[3]