Matthias Jakob Schleiden, also spelled Matthias Jacob Schleiden, (born April 5, 1804, Hamburg [Germany]—died June 23, 1881, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), German botanist, cofounder (with Theodor Schwann) of the cell theory.
Who was Matthias Jacob Schleiden?
When was Matthias Jacob Schleiden born? When did he die?
What is the cell theory?
What did Matthias Jacob Schleiden contribute to the cell theory?
How did Matthias Jacob Schleiden know Theodor Schwann?
Schleiden was educated at Heidelberg (1824–27) and practiced law in Hamburg but soon developed his hobby of botany into a full-time pursuit. Repelled by contemporary botanists’ emphasis on classification, Schleiden preferred to study plant structure under the microscope. While professor of botany at the University of Jena, he wrote “Contributions to Phytogenesis” (1838), in which he stated that the different parts of the plant organism are composed of cells or derivatives of cells. Thus, Schleiden became the first to formulate what was then an informal belief as a principle of biology equal in importance to the atomic theory of chemistry. He also recognized the importance of the cell nucleus, discovered in 1831 by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown, and sensed its connection with cell division. Schleiden was one of the first German biologists to accept Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. He became professor of botany at Dorpat, Russia, in 1863.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
-
cell: Early observations>Matthias Schleiden clearly stated in 1839 that cells are the “elementary particles of organisms” in both plants and animals and recognized that some organisms are unicellular and others multicellular. This statement was made in Schwann’s
Mikroskopische Untersuchungen über die Übereinstimmung in der Struktur und dem… … -
history of science: The founding of modern biology… announced by Theodor Schwann and Matthias Schleiden in 1838, whereby cells were held to be the basic units of all living tissues. Improvements in the microscope during the 19th century made it possible gradually to lay bare the basic structures of cells, and rapid progress in biochemistry permitted the intimate…
-
anatomy: Microscopic anatomyThese technical advances enabled Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann to recognize in 1838–39 that the cell is the fundamental unit of organization in all living things. The need for thinner, more transparent tissue specimens for study under the light microscope stimulated the development of improved methods of dissection,…
-
Theodor Schwann…for plants by German botanist Matthias Jacob Schleiden, who was working at the University of Jena and who Schwann knew well. At Leuven Schwann observed the formation of yeast spores and concluded that the fermentation of sugar and starch was the result of life processes. In this way, Schwann was…
-
cytology…century two Germans, the botanist Matthias Schleiden (in 1838) and the biologist Theodor Schwann (in 1839), were among the first to clearly state that cells are the fundamental particles of both plants and animals. This pronouncement—the cell theory—was amply confirmed and elaborated by a series of discoveries and interpretations. In…
More About Matthias Jakob Schleiden
5 references found in Britannica articlesAssorted References
- collaboration with Schwann
contribution to
- cell theory
- cytology
