Atto Tigri (22 May 1813 – 1875) was an Italian

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal 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 scien ...

born in

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

. He studied medicine in

and at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

, where he became an assistant to Filippo Civinini (1805–1844). Later he was a professor of human and

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

at the

University of Siena The University of Siena (, abbreviation: UNISI), located in Siena, Tuscany, holds the distinction of being Italy's first publicly funded university as well as one of the oldest, originally established as ''Studium Senese'' in 1240. As of 2022, it ...

. In the late 1840s, Tigri is credited for providing the first comprehensive description of the reticular tissue of the

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

, which he called ''trama microscopica''. He also did extensive research on the circulation of blood in the spleen. In a treatise titled ''Nuova Disposizione dell' Apparecchio Vascolare Sanguigno della Milza Umana'', he provided an early discussion of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and

vibrio cholerae ''Vibrio cholerae'' is a species of Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-negative, Facultative anaerobic organism, facultative anaerobe and Vibrio, comma-shaped bacteria. The bacteria naturally live in Brackish water, brackish or saltwater where they att ...

Selected writings

* ''Nuova Disposizione dell' Apparecchio Vascolare Sanguigno della Milza Umana'' (1847) * ''Della Funzione della Milza'' (1849)

References

Short Biography of Atto Tigri
Italian anatomists 1813 births 1875 deaths University of Pisa alumni Academic staff of the University of Siena People from Pistoia {{italy-med-bio-stub