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's position in the history of reproduction is unique, summarising the work of anatomists before his time, but unable to benefit from the advances about to be made by microscopy, although he reported its use by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1673. His personal contributions include the description of testicular tubules, the efferent ducts, corpora lutea and to describe the function of the Fallopian tubes and hydrosalpinx.De Graaf may have been the first to understand the reproductive function of the Fallopian tube, described the hydrosalpinx, linking its development to female infertility.
De Graaf also invented a practical syringe, described in his third treatise.
Graafian follicles
His
eponymous legacy are the
Graafian (or ovarian) follicles. He himself pointed out that he was not the first to describe them, but described their development. 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 like De Graaf still assumed that the follicle was the oocyte itself, although De Graaf realised the ovum was much smaller. 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.
Female ejaculation
De Graaf described
female ejaculation and referred to an erogenous 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.
Weaknesses
Despite his contributions, De Graaf made a number of errors in addition to believing that the ovum was the the follicle. He never actually consulted the ancient texts but merely repeated the accounts of others compounding their inaccuracies. Because he observed rabbits rather than humans, he assumed fertilisation took place in the ovary. He believed that the
seminal vesicles stored
spermatozoa.
Gallery
Publications
References
Other sources
- Houtzager HL. Reinier de Graaf 1641-1673 (Dutch). Rotterdam: Erasmus publishing, 1991. ISBN 90-5235-021-3.
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