Abstract
F.-V. Raspail (1794-1878), although not well known to most physicians, is nevertheless an extraordinary figure, of great significance in medicine, science, politics, and sociology. A lifelong rebel, contentious and mistrustful, he could not accept authority, and he had a rather difficult personality. Nevertheless his achievements were great. His early adult life he devoted intensely to botanic science, with great skill in microscopy at a time when the microscope had not yet reached its adequate development. There is no question but that he described the cell and its contents 12 years before Schleiden and Schwann. Furthermore, he was virtually the founder of histochemistry, and used chemical techniques to identify chemical substances in cells. However, with the political commotions in France in 1830 he became involved in politics, to the detriment of science. He never took a higher degree and was never licensed to practice medicine but he devised his own medical
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