Eber Landau (November 8, 1878 – October 30, 1959) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

- Swiss

anatomist 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 it ...

and

histologist Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

, born in

Rēzekne Rēzekne (, ; German: ''Rositten'') is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven hills, Rēzekn ...

, Latvia. He studied medicine at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

, graduating in 1902. Later, he continued his education with studies in

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 it ...

and

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

in the laboratory of histology at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(1903) and at

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

as an assistant of

Peter Lesgaft Peter Franzevich Lesgaft (russian: Пётр Францевич Лесгафт) (21 September 1837 – 1909) was a Russian teacher, anatomist, physician and social reformer. He was the founder of the modern system of physical education and medical-p ...

(1837–1909). From 1906 to 1912 he worked in

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

as a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and p ...

-assistant in the anatomical institute directed by August Rauber (1841-1917). In 1913, he moved to the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

as an associate professor, shortly afterwards relocating to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he conducted

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

research under the directorship of Joseph Jules Dejerine (1849-1917). In 1918 he returned to Bern, where he spent several years working in the institute of anatomy. In 1923 Landau founded the department of histology and

embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos ...

at Kaunas University. Here he served as departmental head until 1932, afterwards relocating to the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

, where he conducted investigations in the fields of brain anatomy, neurology and neurohistology.

Partial bibliography

* ''Materjaly dlia mikroskopicheskoj anatomii, fiziologii patologii nadpochechnoj zelesi. Disertacija'' ( Microscopic anatomy,

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

, and

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

suprarenal glands The adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands) are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer cortex whic ...

). Doctoral dissertation) Jurjevas: Jurjevo Universitetas; 1907. * ''Die Sehrinde : eine anthropologische Studie an Schweizerhirnen'', 1914 - The

visual cortex The visual cortex of the brain is the area of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe. Sensory input originating from the eyes travels through the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus and ...

. * ''Anatomie des grosshirns, formanalytische untersuchungen'', 1923 - Anatomy of the

cerebrum The cerebrum, telencephalon or endbrain is the largest part of the brain containing the cerebral cortex (of the two cerebral hemispheres), as well as several subcortical structures, including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb ...

, formal analytic investigations. * ''Biologi koji reliatyvyb s teorija'' (Theory of biological relativity) Kosmos 1925;5:265-375. * ''Saul olin – nauji da ai histologijos technikoje'' (Sun herbs as a source of a new type of dyes used in histology) Medicina (Kaunas); 1930. * ''Trumpas histologijos technikos vadov lis'' (A short manual of histological techniques) Kaunas; 1930. * ''Le claustrum parvum chez l'homme'', 1938 - The

claustrum The claustrum (Latin, meaning "to close" or "to shut") is a thin, bilateral collection of neurons and supporting glial cells, that connects to cortical (e.g., the pre-frontal cortex) and subcortical regions (e.g., the thalamus) of the brain. It ...

parvum of humans. * ''Les voies de l'influx nerveux'', 1948 - The channels of

nerve impulse An action potential occurs when the membrane potential of a specific cell location rapidly rises and falls. This depolarization then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarize. Action potentials occur in several types of animal cells, ...

s.WorldCat Identities
(publications)

References

NCBI
Eber Landau, the very first chief of Histology and Embryology Department at the University of Lithuania {{DEFAULTSORT:Landau, Eber 1878 births 1959 deaths People from Rēzekne People from Rezhitsky Uyezd Latvian Jews Latvian anatomists Latvian scientists Histologists University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of Vytautas Magnus University Academic staff of the University of Bern Academic staff of the University of Lausanne