Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Toruń on 19 February 1473 in a house at Św. Anny Street (now: Kopernika Street). He was the son of a Kraków merchant, with the same name as the famous astronomer Mikołaj, who moved from Kraków to Toruń as part of his trade. The scientist's mother, Barbara, came from the Watzenrode family, associated with Toruń for a long time.
Copernicus was sent to study in Cracow and studied at the Faculty of Liberated Arts of the Krakow Academy from 1491 to 1495. Later he continued his studies at Italian universities, in Bologna (law), Padua (medicine) and Ferrara (law), he also stayed in Rome. This happened in the years 1496-1503.
After returning from Italy, he lived for several years in Lidzbark Warmiński, where his uncle Łukasz Watzenrode resided, who was the bishop of Warmia. It was in Lidzbark that around 1509 he developed the first outlines of his theory of heliocentric construction of the Solar System.
He spent the next stage of his life in Frombork, where he lived on a cathedral hill. He was associated with Frombork until the end of his life, with several-year breaks for a stay in Olsztyn.
The most famous work of Copernicus is "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium". ("On the Turnover of the Blue Spheres"), which was published in 1543. In it he presented a theory of the heliocentric structure of the Solar System, destroying previous views. According to Copernicus, it is the Earth and other planets that revolve around the Sun, and not the Sun and planets around the Earth, as the medieval model explaining the structure of the world proclaimed.
Although Copernicus' theory was not welcomed at first, it influenced the way of looking at the place of our planet and man in the Universe. It initiated the so-called Copernican revolution, especially in the sciences.
During Copernicus' time, technology did not allow us to provide convincing observational evidence for the validity of the idea of the Polish astronomer, but after Galileo applied the telescope to observe the sky (in 1609), subsequent centuries brought such evidence. It was finally confirmed when the parallaxes of stars were measured (small changes in the position of stars in the sky during the year caused by the movement of the Earth after the orbit).
During its activity Copernicus gathered a large collection of books, which in most cases was scattered and partially destroyed after the death of the scientist. Most of the books were sent to the Frombork Chapter Library, from where they were taken to Sweden by the troops of Gustaw Adolf and Charles XII. Perhaps thanks to this, some of these books have survived to our times.
Copernicus was not only an astronomer, but a true "man of the Renaissance", because he also worked as a mathematician, doctor, lawyer, economist, and also tried his hand at translating literature.
He prepared the "Treaty on Coins". He delivered it publicly at the Congress of Royal Prussia in Grudziądz (1522). Copernicus noticed that if there are two types of money on the market, one of which is perceived as "better", it will be collected and the market will remain mainly "worse", which can be briefly described as a rule: "worse money displaces better money". This law of economics is known as the Copernicus-Gresham law.
During his professional career Copernicus performed such functions as the secretary of the bishop of Warmia, the bishop of Warmia, the administrator of the goods of the Warmia chapter (among others he strengthened the Olsztyn castle), the commissioner of Warmia, a deputy and occasionally various other functions. He took part in many diplomatic and administrative activities, in the Congresses of Royal Prussia, the Diet of Cracow, represented the Chapter during negotiations with the Teutonic Order on the return of Braniewo.
Nicolaus Copernicus died in Frombork on 24 May 1543. His theory of the heliocentric structure of the Solar System was a revolution not only in astronomy, but for the whole perception of the place of man in the Universe, with philosophical, religious and even political consequences.