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Nicolaus Copernicus | |
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Niklas Koppernigk | |
 The "Torun portrait" (anonymous, c. 1580), kept in Toruń town hall | |
| Born | 19 February 1473 |
| Died | 24 May 1543 (aged 70) Frauenburg, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland |
| Citizenship |  Royal Prussia |
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| Known for | Heliocentrism Quantity theory of money Gresham–Copernicus law |
| Scientific career | |
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| Influences | Aristarchus of Samos, Martianus Capella |
| Influenced | Johannes Kepler |
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Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Prussian astronomer. People know Copernicus for his ideas about the sun and the earth. His main idea was that our world is heliocentric (helios = sun). His theory was that the sun is in the middle of the solar system, and the planets go around it. This was published in his book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) in the year that he died.
Copernicus was born in 1473 in the city of Thorn (Toruń) in Royal Prussia, a mainly German-speaking state that was ruled by the Polish king since 1466. He was the son of the merchant Niklas Koppernigk and his wife Barbara Koppernigk (born Barbara Watzenrode). His native language was German. He was taught first in Cracow and then in Italy, where he graduated as a lawyer of the church. He also studied medicine to serve his fellow clerics. Copernicus spent most of his life working and researching in Frauenburg (Frombork), Warmia, where he died in 1543.
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