Konrad Gessner: Quincentennial of great naturalist

The violent events of Verdun, the Battle of the Somme and the Easter Rising, will be remembered in 2016, writes Richard Collins

However, we should also commemorate a man of peace, born on March 26 500 years ago this year. Konrad Gessner, the German Pliny, laid the foundations of modern librarianship and natural history.

Gessner was born in Zurich, the son of a furrier. A gifted linguist and classical scholar, he studied medicine in Strasburg and Basel. Teaching at the Carolinum in Zurich, he became the town’s medical officer. This Renaissance-man wrote, or contributed to, over 60 books, including a Greek dictionary.