Friedrich Sigmund Merkel

Born 1845
Died 1919

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German anatomist, born April 5, 1845, Nürnberg; died May 28, 1919, Göttingen.

Biography of Friedrich Sigmund Merkel

Friedrich Sigmund Merkel was educated in Erlangen, Greifswald, and Göttingen, and obtained his doctorate at Erlangen in 1869. That year he became prosector at the anatomical institute in Erlangen. In 1870 he was habilitated for anatomy and in 1872 accepted an invitation to become ordinarius in Rostock. In 1883 he moved to the same position in Königsberg, and in 1885 to Göttingen.

Merkel wrote a 3 volume book on human anatomy. He experimented with osmium tetroxide staining and described these cells named for him on the skin of a mole and later they were found in human skin.

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