Johann Christian Rosenmüller (May 25, 1771 – February 28, 1820) was a German

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 its ...

born near

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. He was the son of

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Johann Georg Rosenmüller Johann Georg Rosenmüller (18 December 1736 – 14 March 1815), a German Protestant theologian, was born at Ummerstadt in Hildburghausen, on 18 December 1736. He was appointed Professor of Theology at Erlangen in 1773, Primarius Professor of T ...

(1736-1815). He received his education at the Universities of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...

, and in 1794 was appointed

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 ...

at the anatomical institute at

. In 1797 he earned his doctorate, and from 1802 until his death was a professor of anatomy and

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

at the University of Leipzig. An avid

speleologist Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form ( speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology) ...

, in 1794 he provided the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

of '' Ursus spelaeus'' for the extinct

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...

from his analysis of bones found near the village of

Muggendorf Muggendorf is a municipality in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, ...

. He was the author of several treatises on anatomy and surgery, and has the following anatomical terms named after him: * Rosenmüller's fossa: The lateral

nasopharyngeal The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its struct ...

recess. * Rosenmüller's gland: The

palpebral An eyelid is a thin fold of skin that covers and protects an eye. The levator palpebrae superioris muscle retracts the eyelid, exposing the cornea to the outside, giving vision. This can be either voluntarily or involuntarily. The human eye ...

portion of the

lacrimal gland The lacrimal glands are paired exocrine glands, one for each eye, found in most terrestrial vertebrates and some marine mammals, that secrete the aqueous layer of the tear film. In humans, they are situated in the upper lateral region of each or ...

. * Rosenmüller's organ: Also known as the

parovarium The epoophoron or epoöphoron (also called organ of RosenmüllerJ. C. Rosenmüller. De ovariis embryonum et foetuum humanorum. 1802. or the parovarium) is a remnant of the mesonephric tubules that can be found next to the ovary and fallopian tu ...

Selected works

* "Quaedam de ossibus fossilibus animalis cujusdam, historiam ejus et cognitionem", 1794. * ''Beiträge zur Geschichte und nähern Kenntniß fossiler Knochen'', 1795 – Contributions to the history and knowledge of fossilized bone. * ''Abbildungen und Beschreibungen merkwürdigen Hölen um Muggendorf'', 1796 – Illustrations and descriptions involving the Muggendorf cave. * "Organorum Lachrymalium Partiumque Externarum Oculi Humani Descriptio Anatomica", 1797. * "Quaedam de ovariis embryonum et foetuum humanorum", 1802. * "Compendium anatomicum, in usum praelectionum", 1816. * ''Handbuch der Anatomie des menschlichen Körpers zum Gebrauche bei vorlesungen'' (with Ernst Heinrich Weber), 1840 – Manual on the anatomy of the human body, for usage in lectures.Google Books
(list of publications)

References

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

The Cave Bear Story by Björn Kurtén
German anatomists People from Hildburghausen Leipzig University faculty 1771 births 1820 deaths Speleologists 19th-century German geologists 18th-century German geologists {{Germany-med-bio-stub