Anders Adolph Retzius (13 October 1796 – 18 April 1860), was a
Swedish professor of
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...
and a supervisor at the
Karolinska Institute
The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...
in Stockholm.
Biography
Retzius was born in
Lund
Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, across the Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Scania County. The Öre ...
, Sweden, in 1796. He enrolled at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion [Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...]
, until he in 1818 became a licensed
doctor of medicine
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...
. Through his friendship with
Jöns Jakob Berzelius, as early as 1824 he was appointed temporary professor of anatomy at the
Karolinska Institute
The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...
, an institute to which he dedicated much of his strength for many years. In 1830 he was also appointed temporary supervisor there, and in 1840 he was appointed both permanent professor and supervisor. Pathologist
Axel Key
Ernst Axel Henrik Key (25 October 1832 – 27 December 1901) was a Swedish pathologist, member of parliament, writer and rector at Karolinska Institute.
Biography
Upbringing and education
Key was born in 1832 in Johannisberg in Flisby sock ...
was one of his students.
During the next decades he made many anatomical discoveries, for instance about the finer parts of the teeth, of the skull, of the muscles and of the nervous system. He was also an
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...
, whose
studies of the human cranium led to the classifications
dolichocephalic and
brachycephalic. He was considered to be very knowledgeable and was elected into many of the scientific academies at the time. He is credited with defining the
cephalic index, which is the ratio of width to length of one's head.
Retzius was a
polygenist. Retzius studied many different skull types from different races; because the skulls were so different from each race, he believed that the races had a separate origin.
The
retropubic space of Retzius is named after him. The
peritoneum
The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mes ...
lies deep to the posterior layer of
transversalis fascia
The transversalis fascia (or transverse fascia) is a thin aponeurotic membrane of the abdomen. It lies between the inner surface of the transverse abdominal muscle and the parietal peritoneum.
It forms part of the general layer of fascia lining ...
and is very adherent to it. Distally, this close contact remains in the area lateral to the epigastrics. Medially, however, the peritoneum reflects on the roof of the
bladder
The urinary bladder, or simply bladder, is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination. In humans the bladder is a distensible organ that sits on the pelvic floor. Urine en ...
and runs sharply dorsally, away from the deep layer of transversalis fascia. The separation of transversalis fascia and peritoneum contains loose fatty tissue allowing for the filling of the bladder. This space is called the retropubic space of Retzius (from the Clinic of Digestive Surgery, University Hospital St-Pierre, Brussels).
Retzius was active in the
temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
, engaging himself in the battle against the Swedish drinking habits – which at this time had a significant impact on Swedish society – with works on the harmful effects liquor has on the body. Along with , ,
Jöns Jacob Berzelius
Baron Jöns Jacob Berzelius (; by himself and his contemporaries named only Jacob Berzelius, 20 August 1779 – 7 August 1848) was a Swedish chemist. Berzelius is considered, along with Robert Boyle, John Dalton, and Antoine Lavoisier, to be o ...
,
Samuel Owen,
George Scott, and others, he was one of the founders of
Svenska Nykterhetssällskapet, the Swedish Temperance Society, in 1837.
In 1826, he was elected a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...
.
The
Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography
The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG; sv, Svenska Sällskapet för Antropologi och Geografi) is a scientific learned society founded in December 1877. It was established after a rearrangement of various sections of the Anthropo ...
previously awarded the Anders Retzius Medal in Gold to world-leading scholars in
human geography
Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography that studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment. It analyzes spatial interdependencies between social ...
and
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
. In 2015, the Society decided that it was inappropriate to award a medal in Retzius's name considering his contributions to
phrenology
Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
.
He was the father of
Gustaf Retzius.
Retzius died in Stockholm in 1860.
See also
*
Striae of Retzius
The striae of Retzius are incremental growth lines or bands seen in tooth enamel. They represent the incremental pattern of enamel, the successive apposition of different layers of enamel during crown formation.
There are 3 types of incremental ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Retzius, Anders
1796 births
1860 deaths
People from Lund
Swedish anatomists
Swedish anthropologists
Swedish biologists
Swedish scientists
People connected to Lund University
Karolinska Institute faculty
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala