Theodor Schwann

Theodor Schwann , 1810-82, German physiologist and histologist. He was a student of J. P. Müller and professor at the universities of Louvain (1838-48) and Liège (from 1848). A cofounder (with Matthias Schleiden) of the cell theory, Schwann extended the work of Schleiden and demonstrated that the cell is the basis of animal as well as of plant tissue, and because he recognized the physiological and the morphological significance of the cell in advance of other 19th-century biologists he may be called the father of cytology. He described the nerve sheath known by his name and demonstrated the living nature of yeasts. Of great influence was his Microscopical Researches … in the Structure and Growth of Animals and Plants (1839, tr. 1847).

Schwann, Theodor (1810–82) German physiologist, who trained in medicine. After working in Berlin, he moved to Belgium. In 1838 Matthias Schleiden had stated that plant tissues were composed of cells. Schwann demonstrated the same fact for animal tissues, and in 1839 concluded that all tissues are made up of cells: this laid the foundations for the cell theory. Schwann also worked on fermentation and discovered the enzyme pepsin. Schwann cells are named after him.

Schwann, Theodor (1810–82) A German physiologist who, in collaboration with M. J. Schleiden, proposed the cell theory (and coined the term), according to which all plant and animal tissues are composed of cells, and within an individual organism all the cells are identical (see also VIRCHOW, RUDOLF). This was based on a botanical discovery by Schleiden, which he described in 1838, and in 1839 Schwann showed that it also applied to animals. Schwann graduated in medicine at Berlin in 1834, was appointed professor of anatomy at the University of Louvain in 1838, and became a professor at Liège in 1847. The cell theory arose from his studies of yeasts.