Charles-Philippe Robin

Charles-Philippe Robin (June 4, 1821 - October 5, 1885) was a French physician who was a professor at the University of Paris. At different stages of his career he was a professor of natural history, anatomy, and histology. He was a member of the Academy of Medicine (1858) and Academy of Science (1866).

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Robin's contributions to medicine were many and varied. He was a pioneer in the study of microscopic and cellular biology, and along with Pierre François Olive Rayer (1793-1867), Claude Bernard (1813-1878), and Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard (1817-1894) he established the Société de biologie in 1848. He was the first physician to describe the species Candida albicans (a diploid sexual fungus), and he discovered the role of osteoclasts in bone formation. He also contributed new information on the structure of glial cells and the electrical organs of Rajidae (electric skates).

Robin was a prolific writer, creating over 300 publications during his lifetime. The eponymous Virchow-Robin spaces are named after him and pathologist Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902). Virchow-Robin spaces are lymphatic spaces between the vessels of the central nervous system.

Partial bibliography:

• Tableaux d’anatomie. Paris, 1851.
• Anatomie microscopique. 1868.
• Programme du cours d’histologie. 1870.
• Traité du microscope, son mode d’emploi, son application, 1871.
• Anatomie et physiologie cellulaire, animale et végétale. Paris, 1873.
• Mémoire sur le développement embryogénique des hirudinées. 1874.
• L’instruction et l’éducation. 1877.
• Nouveau dictionnaire abrége de médecine. Paris, 1886

Reference:

• Who Named It?, Charles-Philippe Robin