credulity, dark and eventful imagination and simplicity and ignorance among these people." In response to the report, Maria Theresa issued a decree that banned all traditional defences that locals had been using, such as putting accused vampires to the stakes, beheading or burning them. In 1758, he also examined and treated Magda Logomer, a woman condemned to death in Zagreb for witchcraft at the request of the Maria Theresa, leading to the verdict being cancelled by the queen, ending a phase of witch trials in Croatia. Honors In May 1749 van Swieten was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1751, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. A genus of mahogany was named after Gerard van Swieten, Swietenia, by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. The Frank – van Swieten Lectures, an international course about strategic information management in hospitals, that is organised by TU Braunschweig, University of Amsterdam, University of Heidelberg, UMIT at Hall near Innsbruck, Fachhochschule Heilbronn and Leipzig University, is named after him. References J. K. van der Korst, Een dokter van formaat: Gerard van Swieten, lijfarts van keizerin Maria Theresia, Bohn Stafleu van Loghum, 2003, (354 pages) (in Dutch) External links 1700 births 1772 deaths 18th-century Austrian physicians 18th-century Dutch physicians Barons of Austria Court physicians Dutch anatomists Dutch Roman Catholics 18th-century Dutch anatomists Dutch expatriates in Austria Fellows of the Royal Society Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Leiden University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences People from Leiden