Contents
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Establishing that the nervous system is built from individual cells.
Neuron research · Texture of the Nervous System
- Born
- 1 May 1852
- Birthplace
- Petilla de Aragón, Spain
- Died
- 17 October 1934
More people
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a Spanish scientist whose microscopic observations and drawings revealed the organisation of nervous tissue. He helped establish the neuron as its basic cellular unit.
Early life
Artistic interests
Loved drawing as a boy, although his physician father directed him towards medicine.
Medical training
Graduated in medicine at Zaragoza in 1873.
Career
- 1870s
Army medicine
Served as a military doctor, including a posting to Cuba.
- 1883–1887
University chairs
Held professorships in Valencia and then Barcelona.
- 1892 onwards
Madrid research
Continued teaching and investigating the nervous system in Madrid.
Contributions
Neuron research
Used staining methods to study nerve cells and their connections.
Texture of the Nervous System
Published a detailed account of nervous-system anatomy.
Medicine Nobel
Shared the prize with Camillo Golgi.
Beyond the lab
Drawing and photography
Maintained lifelong interests in visual techniques beyond laboratory illustration.
Scientific memoir
Wrote about his youth and research career in Recollections of My Life.
Sources & photo credit
Biography ↗Life and work ↗Photo: Original photo is anonymous although published by Clark University in 1899. Restoration by Garrondo. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
_portrait_(restored).jpg){kind=link}