 Nicolaus Copernicus, a son of a Toruń trader from Kraków, made many contributions to science and the arts.His scientific creativity was inspired at the University of Kraków, at the institution's height; he also studied at Italian universities later.Copernicus wrote Latin poetry, developed an economic theory, functioned as a cleric-administrator, political activist in Prussian sejmiks, and led the defense of Olsztyn against the forces of Albrecht Hohenzollern.