Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934), Spanish histologist, noted for his pioneering work on the fine structure of the nervous system. He was born in Petilla, Aragón, and educated at the University of Zaragoza; he taught at the universities of Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid. In 1889 he discovered the mechanisms governing the morphology and connective processes of nerve cells in the gray matter of the cerebrospinal nervous system. During the next two years he demonstrated the basic changes that the neuron undergoes during the functioning of the nervous system. He was also the first to isolate the nerve cells, called Cajal's cells, that are located near the surface of the brain. For his work in this field Cajal shared the 1906 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine with the Italian cytologist Camillo Golgi. In 1922 he founded the Cajal Institute in Madrid for the advancement of neurohistological research.