Theodor Schwann

Theodor Schwann (1810-1882), German physiologist, generally considered the founder of modern histology, the study of the structure of plant and animal tissues.

Schwann was born in Neuss and educated at the universities of Bonn, Würzburg, and Berlin. He was (1838-1848) professor of anatomy at the University of Leuven in Belgium; thereafter until his death he was associated with the University of Liège, also in Belgium, serving as professor of anatomy from 1848 to 1858, when he became professor of physiology. Schwann ascertained the physiochemical nature of life by applying the cell theory of the German botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden to the evolution of animal life. He also demonstrated that the mature tissues of all animals are traceable to embryonic cells. While assisting the German physiologist Johannes Müller in the Anatomical Museum of Berlin, Schwann discovered pepsin, the digestive enzyme, in the stomach epithelium, or membrane tissues, of animals. He also conducted valuable research on the processes of fermentation, putrefaction, and muscular and arterial contraction. His principal work is Microscopic Investigations on the Accordance in the Structure and Growth of Plants and Animals (1839; trans. 1847).