Nicolaus Copernicus (/kɵˈpɜrnɪkəs/; Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik [miˈkɔwaj kɔˈpɛrɲik]; German: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe.