Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Ramón y Cajal in 1899
Born(1852-05-01)1 May 1852
Died17 October 1934(1934-10-17) (aged 82)
Madrid, Spain
NationalitySpanish
EducationUniversity of Zaragoza
Known forFathering modern neuroscience
Discovery of the neuron
Cajal body, Cajal–Retzius cell, Interstitial cell of Cajal, Neuron doctrine, Growth cone, Dendritic spine, Long-term potentiation, Mossy fiber, Neurotrophic theory, Axo-axonic synapse, Pioneer axon, Pyramidal cell, Radial glial cell, Retinal ganglion cell, Trisynaptic circuit, Visual map theory
AwardsNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1906)
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience
Pathology
Histology
InstitutionsUniversity of Valencia
Complutense University of Madrid
University of Barcelona
Signature

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (Spanish: [sanˈtjaɣo raˈmon i kaˈxal]; 1 May 1852 – 17 October 1934) was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specializing in neuroanatomy, and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906. Ramón y Cajal was the first Spaniard to win a scientific Nobel Prize. His original investigations of the microscopic structure of the brain made him a pioneer of modern neuroscience.

Hundreds of his drawings illustrating the arborization (tree-like growth) of brain cells are still in use, since the mid-20th century, for educational and training purposes.