Regnier de Graaf

Regnier de Graaf, also spelled Reinier de Graaf, was a Dutch physician, physiologist and anatomist, born on 30 July 1641 and dying on 17 August 1673, who made key discoveries in reproductive biology. He was born in Schoonhoven, studied medicine at Leuven, Utrecht and Leiden, and took his medical degree at the University of Angers in 1665 after experimenting on dogs in France. He was the first to develop a syringe to inject dye into human reproductive organs, which let him study their structure and function. His descriptions of the testicular tubules, the efferent ducts and the corpora lutea, and his study of the ovarian follicle in rabbits, gave the mature follicle the name Graafian follicle, although he pointed out himself that others had noticed follicles before him. He was buried in the Old Church in Delft at the age of 32.