Michael Servetus--discoverer of pulmonary circulation and a heretic.

M Servetus or Miguel Serveto ( 1 5 0 9 o r 1 5 1 1 1 5 5 3 ) wa s a theologian, physician and Renaissance humanist. He was born in Villanueva in Argon, Spain. A prodigy and a polymath, h e wa s ve r s e d i n m a n y s c i e n c e s : mathematics, astronomy, meteorology, g e o g r a p h y , h u m a n a n a t o m y a n d pharmacology as well as jurisprudence, translation, poetry and scholarly study of bible in its original languages. He was the first European physician to describe pulmonary circulation. He participated in Protestant Reformation and later developed a nontrinitarian Christology. S e r v e t u s s p e n t h i s w h o l e l i f e s truggl ing against dogmatism and intolerance that permeated Renaissance world. His attack on orthodoxy was so broad and blatant that he became heretic of the worst sort and was condemned by Catholics and Protestants alike. Finally at the instigation of Protestant reformer John Calvin (1509-1564), he was arrested in Geneva and burned at stake. Almost all the newly printed copies of his books were added to the fire. Servetus left native Spain becoming a wondering scholar. He published his Miguel Servetus. Stamp Spain 1977 500th birth anniversary of Servetus. Stamp Spain 2011 Jean Calvin. Stamp Monaco 2006