Theologian, Physician. He was a 16th-century Spanish physician and theologian, who presented unorthodox religious teachings that were not accepted by neither Protestants nor Roman Catholics. He witnessed the deadly persecution of the Jewish and Muslim population by the Spanish, and after protesting, he left Spain for France. In July of 1531 he published De trinitatis erroribus ("On the Errors of the Trinity"). The next year, he published Dialogorum de Trinitate ("Dialogues on the Trinity") and De Iustitia Regni Christi ("On the Justice of Christ's Reign"). Following his first persecution, he changed his named to Miguel de Villanueva after relocating to France but eventually, return to his real surname. While in the Roman Catholic country of France, he stated that he did not believe in the Holy Trinity because it was not mentioned in the Bible. In 1537, while a student of medicine, Servetus wrote a small book, "On Syrups." He became involved with astronomy and published in 1542 his most well-known work, "Biblia sacra ex Santis Pagnini tralatione." Though not accepted in his era, he believed in separation of state and church. He taught religious tolerance and humility in religious debate. In a court in Lyons, he was found guilty of heresy, but escape to Switzerland, yet after his death, the Catholic church in France burnt him in effigy. Not only did he reject the Holy Trinity but infant baptisms. He opposed Calvinism, a protestant theological belief accepted by the Lutheran Church. For this, he was burnt alive with a crown of thorns on his head and with a copy of his 1553 "Cristianismi Restitutio" tied to his arm by the Calvinist Inquisition in Switzerland. The location of his ashes is unknown. Some sources state John Calvin protested his execution by fire and attempted to stop it, while other sources state he supported it. The method of his execution was not accepted by many Protestant theologians, and he became a martyr for religious freedom, especially for the Unitarian church. As a medical student, he studied in 1533 at College Calvi in Paris, and was the first to describe the anatomy and physiology of the circulation of blood in the human body. He was credited as the first in the West to understand the human lung's act of respiration. He studied medicine while teaching mathematics. Born in a household of lesser nobility, his father was a notary at the nearby Royal Monastery of Sigena. Since his baptismal records were lost, his year of birth is estimated at 1509 or 1511. Though not documented, he was well-educated in his early years. In 1527 his father sent him to France to study law at the University of Toulouse but he was expelled in 1528 and traveled with others to Germany and Italy before returning to Spain a year later. During World War II in 1942, the French Vichy government under the Nazi occupation considered that the sculpture dedicated to him in Annemasse was a monument to free thought, hence the statue was removed and melted down by fire. In 1960, the statue was replaced. A hospital in Zaragoza, Spain was named in his honor. A huge sitting statue of Servetus was erected in Villanueva de Sijena, Spain.