Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in Toruń  (Thorn). He attended St. John's School at Thorn, and then commenced studies at the Academy in Kraków (presently: the Jagiellonian University). At the time, the Academy was one of the most crucial academic centres in Europe excelling in the humanities and astronomy.

In 1491, a year before Christopher Columbus discovered America, young Nicolaus together with his brother enrolled for the Academy and paid a tuition fee in the Bursar's Office (Kwestura). The original university records with Copernicus' name are incorporated into the JU Museum collection together with the astronomical instruments that were brought from Hungary to Kraków at the time of Copernicus' studies: torquet (1480), astrolabe (1486), and spherical astrolabe.

Original entry with Nicolaus Copernicus' name; year 1491 (Photograph: Janusz Kozina)

At the Academy Copernicus studied astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, and music. It is also known that he attended classes run by an eminent astronomer: Albert Brudzewski.
The  manuscript of "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium", in which Copernicus formulated the heliocentric model of the universe, is stored by the Jagiellonian Library.

Nicolaus Copernicus monument in Kraków (Photograph: Anna Wojnar)