It Discuss about Marcello Malpighi life history - early life, career, discovery, work, contributions, successfully described the structure of capillaries which connected the arteries and capillaries, discovery wherein he isolated the red blood cells for the first time, cellular level organization in various specimens of flora and fauna etc.,

1. M A R C E L L O
1628-1694
DR. C. BEULAH JAYARANI
M.Sc., M.A, M.Ed, M.Phil (Edn), M.Phil (ZOO), NET, Ph.D (Edn)
ASST. PROFESSOR,
LOYOLA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,CHENNAI - 34

2. • Was born on March10,1628, Crevalcore, Bolgana,
Italy
• He was a Italian physician and biologist
• Founded the Science of Microscopic Anatomy
• Microscopic Anatomy became a prerequisite for
advances in the field of Physiology, embryology, and
practical medicine

3. • Marcello Malpighi was born to parents Marcantonio Malpighi and
Maria Cremonini in the Papal State of Bologna, Italy on March 10, 1628.
• He completed his early education from grammar school and pursued
higher studies from the ‘University of Bologna’ when he was only seventeen,
in 1646.
• It was at the university that one of his teachers Francesco Natali realised
Malpighi’s inclination towards medicine and encouraged him to pursue his goal
• Thus in 1649, Marcello began his doctorate studies in medicine under
the tutelage of mentors like Bartolomeo Massari and Andrea Mariani.

4. • At the age of twenty-one, he lost both
of his parents but he did not let the
circumstances prove a hindrance in
educational pursuits.
• In 1653, the university awarded him
doctoral degrees in philosophy and
medicine.
Bronze monument of Marcello Malpighi by Enrico
Barberi was erected in 1897 in the main square of
Crevalcore, the scientist's birthplace.

5. • Malpighi then embarked on an academic career at the university in 1656
but soon moved to Pisa where he was appointed as the chair of theoretical medicine
.
• At the ‘University of Pisa’, he garnered friendships with mathematician
Giovanni Borelli who would introduce him to the ‘Accademia del Cimento’
which was a pioneering scientific society.
• During his tenure at Pisa, he conducted studies on blood striving to answer the
medical enigmas related to anatomy and physiology of living beings.
• However his stay at the university was cut short by poor health aggravated by
the weather conditions in the Italian city.

6. • Upon his return to his Alma matter the ‘University of Bologna’ he was appointed as
lecturer in theoretical medicine, in 1659. Here he continued his research on microscopes
conducting studies on anatomy.
 In 1661, he made a breakthrough discovery
when he successfully described the structure
of capillaries which connected the arteries and
capillaries.
 He also studied the structure of lungs in frogs
and tortoise and described the function of
alveoli or air sacs which allowed exchange of
gasses during respiration.

7. • His findings were not received well by his
colleagues who despised Marcello because of
his non Bolognese ancestry.
• Vide a glowing recommendation from
mathematician and friend Giovanni Malpighi
was invited to the ‘University of Messina’
where he occupied the post of a professor in
1662.

8. In 1666, this erudite biologist made an important
discovery wherein he isolated the red blood cells for
the first time and explained that the blood owed its
colour to the RBC’s.
Malpighi returned to ‘University of Bologna’, after his
findings created resentment among his colleagues at
Messina, in 1667.
At Bologna, he published ‘De viscerum structura
execitatio anatomica’ which included his findings
related to the anatomy of organs such as brain, kidney,
spleen, bones and liver.

9.  Marcello’s pioneering work garnered the attention of several eminent scientific
communities, including the ‘Royal Society of London’.
 Since 1668, his findings were published in the journal managed by the Royal Society
titled ‘Philosophical Transactions’.
 He was the first ever Italian to receive a nomination to the Royal Society as a
‘Foreign Member’, in 1669. Also in the same year he studied the various stages in the
life cycle of a silkworm and other insect larvae.
 Continuing his research on reproduction of living beings, he studied in detail the
developmental stages of an embryo in a chick.

10. Between the years 1675-79, he used microscopic techniques to study cellular
level organization in various specimens of flora and fauna.
He deduced an analogy between the distribution and location of cells in
plants and animals
Marcello witnessed a rising opposition against him towards the latter
years of his life. Such was the extent of criticism that his house was set
on fire and his publications and instruments used for conducting
research were trashed.
Pope Innocent XII ordained this eminent biologist as a papal physician in
1691 and Marcello served as a royal physician until his death.

11. Marcello was hailed as father of modern
anatomy owing to his numerous
contributions in the field.
De polypo cordis’ published in 1666,
which included his studies of the
mechanism by which blood clots and the
discovery of RBC’s was a milestone
discovery in the field of anatomy.
service
of Pope Innocent XII as his physician.
he breathed his
last on November 30, 1694 at the age of
66