Everything about Regnier De Graaf totally explained
Regnier de Graaf (
July 30,
1641 –
August 17,
1673) was a
Dutch physician and
anatomist who made key discoveries in
reproductive biology. His first name is often spelled
Reinier or
Reynier.
Biography
De Graaf was born in
Schoonhoven. He studied medicine in
Utrecht and
Leiden. There his co-students were
Jan Swammerdam,
Niels Stensen and
Frederik Ruysch, one of their professors was
Franciscus Sylvius. (All of them were interested in the organs of procreation). He submitted his
doctoral thesis on the
pancreas, and went to
France where he obtained his
medical degree from the University of
Angers. While in Paris, he also turned to the study of the male
genitalia, which led to a publication in 1668. Back in the Netherlands in 1667, De Graaf established himself in
Delft. Since he was a
Catholic in a mainly
Protestant country, he was unable to follow a university career. After the early death of a son, De Graaf died in 1673 at age 32 and was buried in the
Oude Kerk in
Delft. The reason for his death is unknown, he was, however, affected by his controversy with Swammerdam (v.i.) and the death of his son. Recent speculation that he may have committed suicide is entirely unfounded. A few months before his death De Graaf recommended, as a member of the
Royal Society in
London, that attention be paid to
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and his work on the improvement of the
microscope.
Legacy
De Graaf invented a practical
syringe, but is more famous for having realised the reproductive function of the
ovarian follicle. From the observation of
pregnancy in rabbits, he concluded that the follicle contained the
oocyte, although he never observed it. The mature stage of the ovarian follicle is
called the
Graafian follicle in his honour, although others, including
Fallopius, had noticed the follicles previously (but failed to recognize its reproductive significance). The term
Graafian follicle followed the introduction of the term
ova Graafiana by
Albrecht von Haller who still assumed that the follicle was the oocyte itself. The discovery of the human egg was eventually made by
Karl Ernst von Baer in 1827. De Graaf's contemporary
Jan Swammerdam confronted him after his publication of
DeMulierum Organis Generatione Inservientibu and accused him of taking credit of discoveries he and
Johannes van Horne had made earlier regarding the importance of the ovary and its eggs. De Graaf issued a rebuttal but was affected by the accusation.
De Graaf may have been the first to understand the reproductive function of the
Fallopian tube, described the
hydrosalpinx, and linked the development of hydrosalpinx with female
infertility. De Graaf described as a first
female ejaculation and referred to an erogene zone in the vagina that he himself linked with the male
prostate; later this zone was rediscovered by the German gynecologist
Ernst Gräfenberg as the
g-spot. Further, he described the anatomy of the
testicles and collected secretions of the
gall bladder and the
pancreas.
De Graaf's discoveries were made without the benefit of a microscope.
Gallery
Publications
Further Information
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