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Nicolaus (or Nicholas) Copernicus (1473-1543) was an European astronomer, who developed a heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory of the solar system. He was also a church canon, an astrologer, and a doctor.

His major theory was published in the book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ("On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres") in the year of his death 1543, even though he had arrived at it several decades earlier. This book marks the beginning of the shift from a geocentric (and anthropocentric) universe. Copernicus held that the Earth is another planet revolving around the fixed sun once a year, and turning on its axis once a day. He arrived at the correct order of the planets and explained the precession of the equinoxes correctly by a slow change in the position of the Earth's rotational axis. His theory, unfortunately, still had some serious defects, among them circular as opposed to elliptical orbits and epicycles, that made it no more precise in predicting ephemerides than the then current tables based on Ptolemy's model. But it had a large influence on scientists such as Galileo and Kepler, who adopted, championed and, in Kepler's case, improved the model. The book was put on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1616 by the Roman Catholic Church. Galileo's observation of the phases of Venus produced the first observational evidence for Copernicus' theory.

Copernicus was born in 1473 in Thorn, Poland. He was ten years of age when his father, a wealthy businessman and copper trader, died. His uncle, Lucas Watzenrode, Prince-bishop of Ermeland, raised him and his three other siblings. His brother Andreas became canon in Frauenburg. A sister, Barbara, became a Benedictine nun and the other sister, Katharina, married a businessman and city councillor, Barthel Gertner. After studying in Krakow, where his teacher was Albert Blar (Albert de Brudzewo) and in Italy, Copernicus came to live and work in Frauenburg, Ermeland. Copernicus worked with duke Albert of Prussia on coin reform and early on published his findings on value of money. In 1514 he made his writing, "Commentariolus" available to his friends. In 1539 Georg Joachim Rheticus arrived in Frauenburg. Philipp Melanchthon had arranged with several astronomers for Rheticus to visit and study with them.

Legend says that a printed copy of De revolutionibus was put in Copernicus's hands shortly before his death so that he could say goodbye to his opus vitae. He awoke from his stroke induced coma, looked at his book, and died peacefully. Copernicus was buried in the Frauenburg Cathedral.

Frombork, Braniewo, Olsztyn are the current names used by Poland for Frauenburg, Braunsberg and Allenstein.

There is a persistent controversy about the nationality of Copernicus. The origin of this is trying to apply a concept very well defined today to a time and place where it is not so well defined. Let's just say there are reasons to try to apply both the "german" and "polish" labels to Copernicus, and the "definitive" answer depends on who you ask.