Malpighi, marcello

(¤ 1628, † 1694) Anatomist, working in Bologna, Pisa, Rome.

Marcello Malpighi was born on 10 March 1628 in Crevalcore in Northern Italy. Malpighi is considered the founder of microscopic anatomy. His extensive research laid the foundation for histology and had a great impact on botany, zoology and embryology. In 1694 this great researcher died at the age of 66 in Rome; he is buried in Bologna.

Malpighi began his stage at the University of Bologna. He was a member of the anatomical society of Bartolomeo Massari. In 1653 Malpighi received his doctorate in medicine and philosophy. In 1656 Marcello appointed Malpighi professor of theoretical anatomy at the University of Pisa. In 1659 Malpighi returned to Bologna, where he remained until 1691, except for a brief interruption from 1662-1666 (he taught in Messina).

In 1661 Malpighi discovers capillary vessels while examining frogs' lungs with a micoscope. In 1662 he discovered, among other things, the taste buds on the tongue and the pigment layer of the skin. The stratum basale of the epidermis is also called stratum malphighii. In 1665, in the writing "De cerebro", Malphigi describes the course of the nerve fibre bundles that lead to the spinal cord and are connected to the brain.