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Science and medicine

Inventors, scientists, physicians and drug-makers, and what became of their patents, papers, hospitals, fortunes and bodies.

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What do the science and medicine estate cases show?

A will that does not name the right of publicity leaves its transfer and its length to state law, and a court may end it 50 years after death. In wartime the state can hold an estate's papers before any heir sees them.

Stories
53
Years
176 BCE to 2020
Main regions
Europe, North America, East Asia
Legal traditions
Common law, Civil law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in science and medicine, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

Albert Einstein Head: Albert Einstein1955 · Princeton, New Jersey, USAAlbert Einstein's publicity rights ended in 2005, a judge ruled, defeating Hebrew University's suit over a GM ad with his face on a muscled bodyAlbert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey, on 18 April 1955, domiciled in that state.cacd.uscourts.gov and 5 moreNikola Tesla: A photograph image of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) at age 34.1943 · Hotel New Yorker, New York City, USAThe US government sealed Nikola Tesla's papers after he died, his nephew took them to Belgrade, and the church and scientists later fought over his ashesNikola Tesla died alone in Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker on 7 January 1943, aged 86. The Office of Alien Property took his property, sealed it and moved it to a Manhattan warehouse, though Tesla was a US citizen.Cornell Law School, LII and 4 moreHenrietta Lacks: Henrietta Lacks (cropped)1951 · Baltimore, Maryland, USADoctors took Henrietta Lacks's cells without her knowledge in 1951, and her estate has settled with Thermo Fisher and NovartisIn 1951 doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took cells from Henrietta Lacks's cervical tumour without her knowledge. They became the first human cells to grow continuously in laboratory dishes, the HeLa line.thebanner.com and 2 moreMap of Maryland, marked on the globe2005 · Baltimore, Maryland, USARobert Kearns showed Ford his intermittent wiper, sued for decades, won about $30 million and lost his marriageRobert Kearns, a college professor, was nearly blinded by a champagne cork on his wedding night in 1953. In 1963 he built intermittent windshield wipers from off-the-shelf electronic parts and showed them to Ford.Deseret News and 3 moreRudolf Diesel: Rudolf Diesel21913 · aboard the steamer Dresden between Antwerp, Belgium, and HarRudolf Diesel vanished from a Channel steamer in 1913 and left his wife a bag of money with papers showing his debtsRudolf Diesel developed his engine at the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg with backing from Krupp. After its success around 1897 he became famous and rich.Smithsonian Magazine and 3 moreMap of California, marked on the globe2001 · Los Angeles, California, USAA doctor patented a cell line from John Moore's spleen, and California's Supreme Court ruled that Moore did not own his cellsJohn Moore was treated for hairy-cell leukaemia at the UCLA Medical Center from 5 October 1976. His physician, David Golde, had his spleen removed on 20 October 1976.scocal.stanford.edu and 2 moreFarnsworth image dissector tube: One of the first experimental video camera tubes, called an image dissector, designed by American engineer Philo T. Farnsworth in 1930.1971 · Holladay, near Salt Lake City, Utah, USARCA fought Philo Farnsworth for the television patent, lost, paid him royalties, and he died in debt while television made others richPhilo Farnsworth filed the first of more than 300 patents on 7 January 1927. On 7 September 1927 his image dissector sent a picture of a line to a receiver in the next room.census.gov and 4 moreAlbert Einstein: Albert Einstein Head cleaned1955 · Princeton, New Jersey, USAEinstein gave his Nobel money to his first wife and asked to be cremated in secret, and the pathologist kept his brain for decadesOn 12 June 1918 Albert Einstein signed an agreement with his first wife, Mileva Marić.nationalgeographic.com and 3 moreDavid Sarnoff: DavidSarnoff 19221954 · New York City, New York, USAEdwin Armstrong jumped from his apartment after years of suing RCA over FM radio, and his widow, once Sarnoff's secretary, won the casesEdwin Armstrong invented the regenerative circuit, the superheterodyne receiver and wide-band FM radio, which he presented in 1933. Westinghouse bought his feedback and superheterodyne patents for $350,000.lemelson.mit.edu and 3 moreJoseph Merrick: Joseph Merrick carte de visite photo, c. 18891890 · Whitechapel, London, England, UKJoseph Merrick's manager stole his savings, the London Hospital took him in, and after his death it kept his skeleton while his flesh went to an unmarked graveJoseph Merrick was born in Leicester on 5 August 1862. Growths on his body worsened over time. His family left him in the Leicester Union Workhouse in 1879.londonmuseum.org.uk and 2 moreJohn Stith Pemberton: John Pemberton1888 · Atlanta, Georgia, USAJohn Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, sold it off in pieces while addicted to morphine, and died poor in 1888, leaving his widow a pauperJohn Pemberton was a pharmacist and a Confederate lieutenant colonel. In April 1865 he was cut across the chest by a sabre at the defence of Columbus, Georgia. He became addicted to the morphine he took for the pain.historynet.com and 2 moreFather Damien's grave in 1907: Father Damien's grave in 1907, during Jack London's visit to Kalaupapa.1889 · Kalawao, Molokai, Hawaii, USA, and Leuven, BelgiumFather Damien was buried on Molokai where he had served leprosy patients, Belgium took the body in 1936, and Hawaii got back his right hand in 1995Joseph De Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, on 3 January 1840, took the name Damien and landed in Honolulu on 19 March 1864.US National Park Service and 2 morePortrait of Isaac Newton (1642-1727)label QS:Lde,"Porträt des Isaac Newton (1642-1727)"label QS:Len,"Portrait of Isaac N: Portrait of Isaac Newton (1642-1727)label QS:Lde,"Porträt 1727 · London, EnglandIsaac Newton died without a will, and his heirs held his alchemy and theology papers for 209 years before selling them for £9,000Isaac Newton died on 31 March 1727, aged 84. He left no will and no instructions for his manuscripts, though he burned some papers in his last weeks. His estate was worth about £30,000, mostly stock and annuities.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk and 2 moreArmsmear (Hartford, CT): Photograph of 'Armsmear' (Samuel Colt's House) — in Hartford, Connecticut. This is an oblique view of the front facade. 1967 photo from the HABS—Historic A1862 · Hartford, Connecticut, USASamuel Colt left $15 million, and the "nephew" in his will was the son of his brother, who died in his cell on his execution daySamuel Colt's revolver factory in Hartford made him one of the richest men in America. In 1841 his brother John C. Colt killed the printer Samuel Adams. John was convicted and sentenced to hang on 18 November 1842.American Heritage and 3 moreAntonio Meucci: Antonio Meucci1889 · Staten Island, New York, USAAntonio Meucci could not pay $10 to renew his telephone caveat, Bell got the patent, and Meucci died before the courts ruledAntonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant, built a voice device he called the teletrofono, first in Havana and then in New York. In his Staten Island house he wired rooms together, including a line to his wife's bedroom.govinfo.gov and 2 moreJohns Hopkins: Hopkinsp1873 · Baltimore, Maryland, USAJohns Hopkins left $7 million in railroad stock to found a hospital, the stock stopped paying, and records found in 2020 showed he had owned slavesJohns Hopkins died in 1873, aged 78. His will left about $7 million to found a university, a hospital and an orphanage for Black children, then the largest philanthropic bequest in US history.Smithsonian Magazine and 2 moreKevadon (thalidomide), 1960: In 1960, the FDA received a new drug application for a sedative, thalidomide, used for years in other countries to treat a variety of maladies, includi1970 · Stolberg and Aachen, GermanyGrünenthal paid 100 million marks into a foundation for thalidomide victims, and a 1971 law wiped out their claims against the companyThe Wirtz family founded Chemie Grünenthal in Stolberg in 1946. On 1 October 1957 it began selling the sedative Contergan, thalidomide, without prescription.servat.unibe.ch and 4 moreWright brothers first successful flight Kill Devil Hills North Carolina December 1903: Photograph of the first successful flight of the Wright brothers, December 17, 1903. Orville 1948 · Dayton, Ohio, USAThe Smithsonian got the Wright Flyer for $1 on a contract that returns it to the Wright heirs if the museum says anyone flew firstIn 1914 the Smithsonian lent the wreck of Samuel Langley's failed 1903 Aerodrome to Glenn Curtiss, who rebuilt it and made short hops. The Smithsonian then displayed it with a label calling it "capable" of manned flight.US National Park Service and 4 moreMerck Engelapotheke: Merck's Engel-Apotheke (Angels-Pharmacy) in the second half of the 17th century in Darmstadt1926 · Rahway, New Jersey, USA, and Darmstadt, GermanyA Merck grandson handed the family's American shares to the US government in 1917, and the two Merck companies have fought over the name ever sinceIn 1668 Friedrich Jacob Merck bought the Engel pharmacy in Darmstadt. The business grew into the family partnership E. Merck. In 1887 it opened a sales office in New York.The National Archives, Find Case Law and 4 moreIshi: Ishi portrait1916 · San Francisco, California, USAIshi asked to be cremated by Yahi custom, and the university sent his brain to the Smithsonian, which returned it 84 years laterIshi was born about 1860, a Yahi, a branch of the Yana people of northern California. On 29 August 1911, starving, he walked out of hiding near Oroville and was held in the local jail.hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu and 2 moreCharles Goodyear: Southworth and Hawes - Charles Goodyear (Zeno Fotografie) crop1860 · New York City, New York, USACharles Goodyear patented vulcanized rubber, spent the profits in court, and died $200,000 in debt on the way to his dying daughterCharles Goodyear spent years trying to make rubber that would not melt or crack. He funded the work by going into debt, and his family lost everything in the panic of 1837.lemelson.mit.edu and 2 moreCurt Engelhorn: Bust of Curt Engelhorn in Deutsches Museum2016 · Augsburg, Germany, and Gstaad, Bern, SwitzerlandCurt Engelhorn sold Boehringer Mannheim to Roche with no German tax paid, two of his daughters were arrested, and the family settled for €135 million to €145 millionCurt Engelhorn, a great-grandson of BASF founder Friedrich Engelhorn, ran Boehringer Mannheim from the late 1950s and moved its holding company, Corange, to Bermuda in the 1980s.bayern.landtag.de and 4 moreShuji Nakamura: Shuji Nakamura Nobel2001 · Tokyo, JapanShuji Nakamura was paid ¥20,000 for the blue LED patent, a Tokyo court awarded him ¥20 billion, and he settled for ¥840 millionShuji Nakamura developed bright blue LEDs at Nichia Corporation, which came to hold a near monopoly on the blue LED market. He says he received ¥20,000, about $180, for the key patent.compoundsemiconductor.net and 2 moreHugo Junkers 1920: Hugo Junkers1935 · Gauting, near Munich, GermanyThe Nazi state forced Hugo Junkers to give up his patents and his company, and he died under house arrest on his 76th birthdayHugo Junkers founded Junkers & Co. in Dessau in 1895 and pioneered all-metal aircraft. His Ju 52 entered service in 1930.stories.technik-museum.de and 3 moreFritz Hoffmann-La Roche: [Porträt von Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche]1920 · Basel, SwitzerlandRoche's founder lost control of his company in the 1919 crisis, and his heirs used a voting pool and a $20.7 billion buyback from Novartis to hold itFritz Hoffmann was born in Basel in 1868. In 1895 he married Adèle La Roche. On 2 November 1896 he and his father declared the founding of F. Hoffmann-La Roche & Co. Russia became its largest market.assets.roche.com and 3 moreAuffahrt, Flug u. Ende des Zeppelin'schen Luftschiffes Modell 4: Wreckage of the Zeppelin LZ4 after the crash in Echterdingen1917 · Friedrichshafen, GermanyGermans gave Count Zeppelin 6 million marks after his airship burned, and his great-grandson has spent ten years trying to take the foundation back from a cityOn 5 August 1908 Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's airship LZ 4 burned at Echterdingen near Stuttgart. Germans sent more than 6 million marks in small donations within weeks.aerointernational.de and 5 moreHerero chained: Herero chained during the 1904 rebellion.1904 · Shark Island, Lüderitz, Namibia, and Berlin, GermanyGermany sent the heads of Herero and Nama prisoners to Berlin for race research, and the Charité returned 20 skulls to Namibia in 2011Between 1904 and 1908 German forces put down a Herero and Nama uprising in German South West Africa. About 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama were killed. Prisoners were held in a camp on Shark Island, off the coast.thenationalnews.com and 2 moreLouis Le Prince: Louisleprincerestored1890 · Dijon, FranceLouis Le Prince filmed moving pictures in 1888, vanished from a train in 1890, and his son died after testifying against EdisonLouis Le Prince, a Frenchman working in Leeds, received a US patent on 10 January 1888 for a 16-lens camera and projector, with matching patents in Britain and France.museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk and 4 moreRobert Hooke: Portrait of a Mathematician 1680c1703 · London, EnglandRobert Hooke said he would endow the Royal Society, died without a will, and cousins he barely knew took the moneyRobert Hooke was curator of experiments at the Royal Society and a professor at Gresham College. After the Great Fire of 1666 he became one of three official surveyors for rebuilding London, the best-paid work of his life.mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk and 2 moreTabulae Rudolphinae - Frontispiece: Frontispiece of : "Tabulae Rudolphinae : quibus astronomicae ...." by Johannes Kepler1601 · Prague, Czech RepublicTycho Brahe's heirs were never paid for his observations, so they took them back from Kepler and won the right to censor his booksTycho Brahe recorded the positions of the planets for decades. He moved to Prague under Emperor Rudolf II and hired Johannes Kepler as a mathematical assistant.cambridge.org and 3 moreRené Favaloro: Rene Favaloro2000 · Buenos Aires, ArgentinaRené Favaloro, who developed coronary bypass surgery, shot himself after his foundation went unpaid by Argentina's health insurersRené Favaloro graduated in medicine at La Plata in 1949 and settled as a country doctor in Jacinto Aráuz, La Pampa, in 1950. In 1962 he went to the Cleveland Clinic. There, about 1967, he developed coronary artery bypass grafting.Al Jazeera and 3 moreWilliam T. G. Morton: WTG Morton1868 · New York City, USAWilliam Morton patented ether anaesthesia, never collected a royalty, and died in debt while his rivals died by suicide and in an asylumOn 16 October 1846 the Boston dentist William Morton anaesthetised a patient with ether at Massachusetts General Hospital.collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk and 2 moreSakichi Toyoda: Sakichi Toyoda1930 · Nagoya, JapanSakichi Toyoda sold his loom patents to a British firm, the money started Toyota, and the loom company went to an adopted son-in-lawSakichi Toyoda built power looms in Japan. In October 1915 his daughter Aiko married Risaburo Kodama, a younger brother of a Mitsui executive, and Sakichi adopted Risaburo as his son.toyota-global.com and 3 moreHarrison H4 chronometer: Harrison's chronometer on display at National Maritime Museum in Greenwich1776 · Red Lion Square, London, EnglandJohn Harrison solved longitude at sea, the Board of Longitude withheld the £20,000 prize, and his son took the case to the kingIn 1714 Britain offered £20,000 for a way to find longitude at sea within 30 nautical miles. John Harrison, a self-taught clockmaker, built four timekeepers.Royal Museums Greenwich and 2 moreRahere's Tomb - Walks in London, Augustus Hare, 1878: Illustration from Walks in London, Augustus Hare, 1878.1143 · West Smithfield, London, England, UKRahere founded St Bartholomew's Hospital after a vow in Rome, Henry VIII seized its income in 1539, and the City of London saved it weeks before the king diedRahere was a courtier of Henry I. On a pilgrimage to Rome he fell ill, probably with malaria, and vowed that if he lived he would build a hospital for the poor.nationalarchives.gov.uk and 2 moreMap of South Korea, marked on the globe2020 · Seoul, South KoreaHanmi Pharm's founder died owing a family tax bill of 500 billion won, his widow and daughter agreed to merge with OCI, and his sons stopped it at a shareholder voteLim Sung-ki studied pharmacy, opened a pharmacy in Dongdaemun, Seoul, in 1967 and founded Hanmi Pharmaceutical in 1973. Annual sales passed 1 trillion won. He died in August 2020, aged 80.The Korea Times and 8 moreHamdard Dawakhana (Lal Kunwan, Delhi): Building Hamdard Dawakhana (Lal Kunwan, Delhi)2015 · Delhi, India, and Karachi, PakistanHamdard split at Partition, its Pakistani founder was shot dead in Karachi, and the Delhi heirs' fight over the waqf took Rooh Afza off Indian shelvesHakim Hafiz Abdul Majid founded Hamdard in Delhi in 1906. After his death in 1922 his widow and two sons ran it. In 1948 the family signed a waqf deed. A trustee who died was to be replaced by his eldest son.livelawbiz.com and 3 moreSiriraj Bimuksthan Museum 2023: ด้านหน้าของพิพิธภัณฑ์ศิริราชพิมุขสถานและอดีตที่ตั้งของสถานีรถไฟธนบุรี ในปี 20231959 · Bangkok and Nonthaburi, ThailandThailand executed Si Quey in 1959 and a hospital museum displayed his embalmed body as a "cannibal" for 60 years before he was crematedSi Quey was a Chinese migrant who settled in Thailand in 1946. He was arrested in Rayong in 1958 and convicted of killing seven children. Reports said he confessed to eating organs. He was shot by firing squad in 1959, aged 32.nationthailand.com and 2 moreNicéphore Niépce: Posthumous portrait of J.N. Niépcelabel QS:Len,"Posthumous portrait of J.N. Niépce"label QS:Lfr,"Portrait posthume de J.1833 · Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, Burgundy, FranceNicéphore Niépce died before photography paid, his partner named it the daguerreotype, and France gave Niépce's son the smaller pensionIn 1827 Nicéphore Niépce made the oldest surviving photograph taken with a camera, a view from a window at his house, Le Gras. On 4 January 1829 he formed a partnership with Louis Daguerre, owner of the Diorama in Paris.hrc.utexas.edu and 2 moreNicolas Leblanc: Nicolas Leblanc - CNAM1806 · Paris, FranceThe Revolution guillotined Nicolas Leblanc's patron, seized his soda works and published his patent, and the state paid his heirs 49 years after his suicideNicolas Leblanc was private physician to the Duke of Orléans from 1780. He found a way to make soda, used for glass and soap, from common salt, the goal of a 2,400-livre prize set by the French Academy of Sciences.thechemicalengineer.com and 2 moreMap of Japan, marked on the globe1945 · Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo, JapanWorkers in Tokyo dug up the bones of at least 62 people at the old Army Medical School in 1989, and Japan has never identified themOn 22 July 1989 workers building a Health Ministry research institute on the site of the wartime Army Medical School in Tokyo dug up about a dozen skulls, many with cuts, and other bones.CBS News and 2 moreCharles Byrne (giant): Charles Byrne; James Burnett, Lord Monboddo; William Richardson; John Bell; Baillie Kyd by John Kay1783 · London, England, UKCharles Byrne arranged to be buried at sea to escape the anatomists, and John Hunter got his body and displayed his skeleton for 200 yearsCharles Byrne was born in 1761 at Littlebridge, County Derry. A pituitary tumour kept him growing, to about 7 feet 7 inches. He showed himself for money in Edinburgh and London as "the Irish Giant".The Irish Times and 2 moreThomas Guy: Thomas Guy (1644–1724) title QS:P1476,en:"Thomas Guy (1644–1724) "label QS:Len,"Thomas Guy (1644–1724) "1724 · Southwark, London, England, UKThomas Guy sold his South Sea stock at the top of the 1720 bubble and left the profit to found Guy's HospitalThomas Guy opened a bookshop in Lombard Street in 1668. From 1679 he printed Bibles under licence from Oxford University. He sat as MP for Tamworth and became a governor of St Thomas' Hospital in 1704.kingspast.kcl.ac.uk and 2 morePeter Chamberlen the third: Peter Chamberlen. Line engraving by T. Trotter, 1794, after1683 · Woodham Mortimer, Essex, England, UKThe Chamberlen family kept the obstetric forceps secret for over a century, and their instruments were found hidden in the family house two centuries laterThe Chamberlens were Protestants who fled France in 1569 for Southampton. Peter Chamberlen the Elder, a barber-surgeon and male midwife, probably invented the obstetric forceps about 1600.daily.jstor.org and 3 morePierre-Paul Riquet: Pierre-Paul Riquet (1604-1680)1680 · Toulouse, FrancePierre-Paul Riquet spent his fortune on the Canal du Midi, died eight months before it opened, and left his heirs the canal and its debtsPierre-Paul Riquet made his money collecting the gabelle, the salt tax, in Languedoc and supplying the army. He proposed a canal to join the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. A royal edict of 5 October 1666 ordered it built.structurae.net and 3 moreDito medio della mano destra to Galileo - 2432 - Museo Galileo - Firenze: Middle finger of Galileo Galileis right hand, exhibited in the Museo Galileo in Florence.1642 · Florence, ItalyThe Church refused Galileo a tomb for 95 years, and when his body was moved in 1737 admirers cut off three fingers and a toothIn 1633 the Inquisition in Rome condemned Galileo Galilei for heresy and made him say he "abjured, cursed and detested" it. He spent his last eight years under house arrest near Florence and died on 8 January 1642.archive.archaeology.org and 2 moreHuaTuo: Portrait of the physician Hua Tuo from a Qing Dynasty edition of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.208 · Xu (Xuchang), Henan, ChinaCao Cao had his physician Hua Tuo put to death, and Hua Tuo burned his book of methods in prison when the jailer would not take itThe Sanguozhi (Records of the Three Kingdoms), written by Chen Shou in the third century, says Hua Tuo came from Qiao in the state of Pei.zh.wikisource.org and 2 moreLibellus de medicinalibus Indorum herbis ff. 38v-39r: Libellus de medicinalibus Indorum herbis ff. 38v-39r1552 · Tlatelolco, Mexico City, MexicoA Nahua healer's 1552 herbal was sent to Spain, passed through a royal pharmacist and a cardinal to the Vatican, and a pope returned it to Mexico in 1990In 1552, at the Franciscan College of Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco, the Nahua healer Martín de la Cruz wrote a book of Mexican medicinal plants in Nahuatl. His classmate Juan Badiano translated it into Latin.library.csun.edu and 2 moreQalawun complex 02: Qalawun complex in Islamic Cairo, Egypt1290 · Cairo, Egypt, and Damascus, SyriaSultan Qalawun built Cairo's great hospital with forced labour after a vow in a Damascus hospital funded by a captured European king's ransomNur al-Din built a hospital in Damascus in 1154. The historian al-Maqrizi wrote that it was paid for with the ransom of a captured European king, who gave four forts and 500,000 dinars for his release.egymonuments.gov.eg and 3 moreIshinpo Nakarai: Ishinpō, Nakarai edition995 · Kyoto and Tokyo, JapanAn emperor gave Japan's oldest medical book to one physician family, and the author's descendants spent centuries trying to get it backThe court physician Tamba Yasuyori completed the Ishinpō, 30 volumes of medicine, in 984. Most of it quotes Chinese medical books of the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang periods, many of which are now lost in China.online.bunka.go.jp and 2 moreMap of Iraq, marked on the globe828 · Baghdad, IraqThe Bukhtishu physicians served the caliphs for six generations: one was sentenced to death, one died in exile, and one great-grandson was disinherited by his stepfatherThe Bukhtishu family were Nestorian Christians of Persian descent, physicians from the hospital at Jundishapur. In 765 the caliph al-Mansur summoned Jurjis ibn Bukhtishu to Baghdad.jima.imana.org and 2 moreLi Shiji: Chinese: 《唐名臣像-李英公》label QS:Lzh,"唐名臣像-李英公"176 BCE · Chang'an (Xi'an), Shaanxi, ChinaThe Shiji says a physician with five daughters and no son was sentenced to mutilation, and his youngest daughter's petition ended the punishmentThe Shiji of Sima Qian puts two physicians in one chapter, and both stories turn on secret prescriptions passed outside the family.zh.wikisource.org and 2 moreSanta Giustina (Padua) - Chapel of Saint Luke - Tomb of Luke the Evangelist (front): Churche Saint Justina of Padua in Italy. Chapel of Luke the Evangelist. Work of the Pisano-VeneLegend · 80 · Thebes, Greece; Padua, Italy; Prague, Czech RepublicChristian tradition says the body of Luke "the beloved physician" was moved from Thebes to Constantinople and Padua, and an emperor took the head to PragueThe Letter to the Colossians calls Luke "the beloved physician". Christian tradition says he died at 84 in Thebes, in Greece. In 338 his coffin was taken to Constantinople.biblegateway.com and 2 more