From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Himetop – The History of Medicine Topographical Database is a collaborative online open access database written in English and launched on December 22, 2007. It is a material culture project run by Italian academician and historian of medicine Luca Borghi at Università Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy.[1] Currently, the database has more than 5.000 records of all kinds of monuments, objects and places related to the history of medicine and others health-related topics. The database currently features items from about 40 countries.[2]
The database contains (2025) items relating to about 1,400 people, mostly physicians and nurses of historical interest, but also health officers, hospital founders and scientists from different fields.[3][better source needed] Each country where Himetop project is developing has a dedicated Google Map to easily locate each item described in the database records.[2]
The name Himetop is an acronym (HIstory of MEdicine TOPographical database) and is inspired by Imhotep, the egyptian “Father of Medicine” (c. 2686-30 B.C.E.).[3]
- Jessica Casaccia, How can a dusty bust of Louis Pasteur be useful? Material medical culture as a new asset for the History of Medicine, PhD Thesis, Università Campus Bio-Medico, Rome 2024
- Sofia Fagiolo, “Himetop: The History of Medicine Topographical Database”, The Charleston Advisor, Volume 22, Number 4, 1 April 2021, pp. 40–44(5)
- Sofia Fagiolo, “Promoting the history of medicine through special collections: the experience of Campus Bio-Medico University Library (Rome, Italy)”, Journal of EAHIL 2021; Vol. 17 (3): 29–31 doi:10.32384/jeahil17463
- “Himetop: the history of medicine topographical database”, Medical History 2009;53:127-30
