Jan Frans Heymans 1859-1932 - Ghent - Belgium

Jean-François Heymans, also Jan Frans Heymans (25 December 1859,

Gooik Gooik () is a former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Gooik proper, Kester, Belgium, Kester, Leerbeek, Strijland and Oetingen. It is now par ...

– 10 April 1932,

Middelkerke Middelkerke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, on the North Sea, west of Ostend. The municipality comprises the villages of Leffinge, Lombardsijde, Mannekensvere, Middelkerke proper, Schore, Sint-Pieters-K ...

) was a Belgian

pharmacologist Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

and

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

. He was the father of physiologist

Corneille Jean François Heymans Corneille Jean François Heymans (28 March 1892 – 18 July 1968) was a Belgian physiologist. He studied at the Jesuit College of Saint Barbara and then at Ghent University, where he obtained a doctor's degree in 1920. Heymans won the Nobel Pr ...

. He received his education at the University of Leuven, where he earned doctorates in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

(1884) and medicine (1887). From 1884 to 1887 he worked as a préparateur in the laboratory of physiology under Ernest Masoin. Afterwards, he travelled to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he spent three years as an assistant to

Emil Heinrich Du Bois-Reymond Emil Heinrich du Bois-Reymond (7 November 1818 – 26 December 1896) was a German physiologist, the co-discoverer of nerve action potential, and the developer of experimental electrophysiology. His lectures on science and culture earned him grea ...

. In 1891 he was named professor of

pharmacodynamics Pharmacodynamics (PD) is the study of the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiologic effects of drugs (especially pharmaceutical drugs). The effects can include those manifested within animals (including humans), microorganisms, or comb ...

and general therapeutics at the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

. Here, he founded a laboratory for experimental pharmacology and therapeutics.Zeno.org
Pagel: Biographical Dictionary outstanding physicians of the nineteenth century. Berlin, Vienna 1901, Sp. 736th. He was rector of the university in 1923-1924. His research included studies of

myelinated Myelin Sheath ( ) is a lipid-rich material that in most vertebrates surrounds the axons of neurons to insulate them and increase the rate at which electrical impulses (called action potentials) pass along the axon. The myelinated axon can be lik ...

and non-myelinated

nerve fiber An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis) or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see spelling differences) is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action pot ...

, the nervous system of the

amphioxus The lancelets ( ), also known as amphioxi (: amphioxus ), consist of 32 described species of somewhat fish-like benthic filter feeding chordates in the subphylum Cephalochordata, class Leptocardii, and family Branchiostomatidae. Lancelets div ...

nerve ending A free nerve ending (FNE) or bare nerve ending, is an unspecialized, afferent nerve fiber sending its signal to a sensory neuron. ''Afferent'' in this case means bringing information from the body's periphery toward the brain. They function as ...

s of

leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...

es, the influence of temperature on

muscle contraction Muscle contraction is the activation of Tension (physics), tension-generating sites within muscle cells. In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in musc ...

and on the detoxification of

cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...

derivatives, to name a few. With German neurophysiologist Johannes Gad, he published a textbook on physiology titled ''Kurzes Lehrbuch der Physiologie des Menschen''. Also, he translated into French,

Ewald Ewald is a given name and surname used primarily in Germany and Scandinavia. It derives from the Germanic roots '' ewa'' meaning "law" and ''wald'' meaning "power, brightness". People and concepts with the name include: Surnames * Douglas Ewald ( ...

and

Munk Munk is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ivo Uukkivi, Munk (born 1965), alias of Estonian actor and singer Ivo Uukkivi * cz: Alena Munková, Alena Munkova (1926-2008), Czech writer who worked in Staflik a Spagetka * Anders Mu ...

's manual of

dietetics A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

as ''Alimentation de l'homme normal et de l'homme malade, traité de diététique a l'usage des médecins''. In 1895, with French physiologist Eugène Gley, he founded the journal ''Archives Internationales de Pharmacodynamie et de Thérapie''.Encyclopedia of Biology
by Don Rittner, Timothy Lee McCabe

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heymans, Jean-Francois 1859 births 1932 deaths People from Flemish Brabant Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Academic staff of Ghent University Rectors of Ghent University Belgian physiologists Belgian pharmacologists