Regnier de Graaf
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Regnier de Graaf (b. July 30th, 1641 in Schoonhoven, Netherlands; d. August 17th, 1673 in Delft, Netherlands], his first name is often spelled Reinier or Reynier), was a Dutch physician and anatomist.
After studying medicine in Utrecht and Leiden, De Graaf went to France in order to do anatomical studies of the pancreas. Back to the Netherlands in 1667, De Graaf established himself in Delft. Since he was a catholic in a mainly Protestant country, he was hindered to follow a university career. After the early death of a son, De Graaf commited suicide in August 17th, 1673, at 32 years of age. A few months before his death, De Graaf recommended, as a member of the Royal Society in London attention to Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and his excellent microscopes.
De Graaf is famous for having discovered the ovarian follicle (which is named Graafian follicle in his honour), described the anatomy of the testicles and collected secretions of the gall bladder and the pancreas.
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From the observation of a ectopic pregnancy he concluded that inside a follicle an oocyte had to be present, although he never observed it. De Graaf also described the function of the Fallopian tubes and deduced the consequences of hydrosalpinx on fertility. He was also the first physician to describe the phenomenon of so-called "female ejaculation" and mentioned the existence of a particularly sensitive zone in the frontal wall of the vagina (which later became known as the G spot, as rediscovered much later by German gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg.
References
- Houtzager HL. Reinier de Graaf 1641-1673 (Dutch). Rotterdam: Erasmus publishing, 1991. ISBN 90-5235-021-3.
External link
- Short biography (http://www.ivf.nl/Reinier_de_Graaf_UK.htm)
- Britannica entry (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9037566)
