Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus buried, again
Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), whose remains were recently identified using modern forensic tools, was buried Saturday at the Frombork Cathedral, 467 years after his death.
Copernicus died in 1543 and was buried at the cathedral of Frombork, northern Poland, along with many other priests and lay people whose bodies remained anonymous under the floor of this large Gothic building. Although an epitaph was placed at the church, information on the exact location of his tomb was either not recorded or it was lost.
For two centuries, Polish, French and German researchers tried in vain to identify Copernicus’ grave by excavating in several points of the marble floor of the church. Finally in 2005, Jerzy Gassowski, professor at the Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology of Pultusk, north of Warsaw, discovered what seemed to be the burial place of the astronomer under the marble floor at the foot of one of sixteen altars located next to the towering pillars of the cathedral.
The skull and bones were entrusted to the police laboratory in Warsaw. Forensic experts made a virtual reconstruction of the man's face. The results showed striking similarities with existing portraits of Nicolas Copernicus. However, only DNA evidence could confirm the finding. Rest of tissue was found under teeth of the skull, but it was necessary to find genetic material to compare it with. The difficulty seemed insurmountable, because genealogy research was not successful.
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Copernicus died in 1543 and was buried at the cathedral of Frombork, northern Poland, along with many other priests and lay people whose bodies remained anonymous under the floor of this large Gothic building. Although an epitaph was placed at the church, information on the exact location of his tomb was either not recorded or it was lost.
For two centuries, Polish, French and German researchers tried in vain to identify Copernicus’ grave by excavating in several points of the marble floor of the church. Finally in 2005, Jerzy Gassowski, professor at the Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology of Pultusk, north of Warsaw, discovered what seemed to be the burial place of the astronomer under the marble floor at the foot of one of sixteen altars located next to the towering pillars of the cathedral.
The skull and bones were entrusted to the police laboratory in Warsaw. Forensic experts made a virtual reconstruction of the man's face. The results showed striking similarities with existing portraits of Nicolas Copernicus. However, only DNA evidence could confirm the finding. Rest of tissue was found under teeth of the skull, but it was necessary to find genetic material to compare it with. The difficulty seemed insurmountable, because genealogy research was not successful.