Short biography of Nicolaus Copernicus

Picture of N. CopernicusNicolaus Copernicus, born 19 February 1473 in Torun, died 24 May 1543 in Frombork. Polish astronomer, mathematician, economist and cleric. In the years 1491 - 1494 he studied at the Cracow Academy, then, from 1496, astronomy in Bolognia and, from 1501, law and medicine in Padua. At Ferrera he obtained a doctorate in canonical law. In 1503 he returned to Poland and settled in Frombork, where in 1497 he had been elected Canon of the Cathedral, a post which gave him a stable source of income. For many years he developed the heliocentric theory of the Solar System, supported by his own observations. In 1510 - 1514 the circulated the Commentariolus, a manuscript containing the main theses of his theory. However, he only allowed the full version of his work De revolutionibus orbium celestium in 1540.