From 1702 to 1706, Heister studied at the Universities of
Giessen and
Wetzlar, afterwards relocating to
Amsterdam, where he studied anatomy under
Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731). In the summer of 1707, he was an assistant physician in
field hospitals at
Brussels and
Ghent during the
War of the Spanish Succession. He then traveled to
Leiden, where he studied anatomy under
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1653–1721) and
Govert Bidloo (1649–1713), also attending
Hermann Boerhaave’s lectures on
chemistry and
ocular diseases. In 1708, he earned his doctorate from the
University of Harderwijk, and in the summer of 1709, rejoined the Dutch military as a field surgeon during the
Siege of Tournai. Shortly afterwards, he distinguished himself in treatment of the wounded from the
Battle of Malplaquet. In 1711, he was appointed professor of anatomy and
surgery at the
University of Altdorf, and from 1720, was a professor of anatomy and surgery at
Helmstedt, where he remained for the rest of his life. During his tenure at
Helmstedt, he also taught classes in botany and practical medicine. In 1730 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society. Among his numerous writings, his best-known work is
Chirurgie, a book on surgery that was translated into several languages. It was used extensively in
Japan, and was still employed as a standard text at
Vienna as late as 1838. Heister's botanical garden in Helmstedt was considered one of the most beautiful in Germany. In 1718, he coined the word "
tracheotomy". Also, he is credited for being the first physician to perform a post-mortem section of
appendicitis. His name is lent to the plant
genus Heisteria, as well as to the
spiral valves of Heister, defined as anatomical folds of the
cystic duct. He died in
Bornum am Elm. His botanical writings were published as
Beschreibung eines neuen Geschlechts in 1755, with illustrated descriptions of plants. == Principal writings ==