August Rauber (March 9, 1841 – February 16, 1917) was a German

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 ...

and

embryologist Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

born in

Obermoschel Obermoschel (, , in contrast to "Niedermoschel, Lower Moschel") is a town and municipality in the district Donnersbergkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With around 1,000 residents, it is the smallest town in the Palatinate (region), Palatinat ...

in the

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

. Rauber was born the fourth of five children to Stephan Rauber and Rosalie née Oberlé. He studied medicine in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, obtaining his doctorate in 1865. At Munich his instructors included Theodor Bischoff (1807–1882), Nicolaus Rüdinger (1832–1896) and Julius Kollmann (1834–1918).Drw.saw-leipzig.de
(biography)

Career

In 1869 he obtained his habilitation, and in 1872 worked as a dissector at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

. Shortly afterwards, he relocated to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where he worked under Wilhelm His (1831–1904). From 1873 to 1886 he was an associate professor of anatomy and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at Leipzig. In 1886, he became a professor of anatomy and head of the anatomical institute at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. He worked as a professor in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

(Dorpat) for 25 years and also started the anatomy collection of the University of Tartu. In his studies involving the

embryonic development In developmental biology, animal embryonic development, also known as animal embryogenesis, is the developmental stage of an animal embryo. Embryonic development starts with the fertilization of an egg cell (ovum) by a sperm, sperm cell (spermat ...

of birds and mammals, Rauber is credited with combining comparative

embryology Embryology (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logy, -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the Prenatal development (biology), prenatal development of gametes (sex ...

and

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

with

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis. The eponymous "Rauber's layer" bears his name, being defined as a

trophoblast The trophoblast (from Greek language, Greek : to feed; and : germinator) is the outer layer of cells of the blastocyst. Trophoblasts are present four days after Human fertilization, fertilization in humans. They provide nutrients to the embryo an ...

ic membrane over the

embryonic disk The bilaminar embryonic disc, bilaminar blastoderm or embryonic disc is the distinct two-layered structure of cells formed in an embryo. In the development of the human embryo this takes place by day eight. It is formed when the inner cell mass, a ...

in developing animals. He is buried to the New St. John's Cemetery in Tartu.

Partial list of publications

* ''Vater'sche Körperchen der Bänder- und Periostnerven und ihre Beziehung zum sog. Muskelsinne'' (1865). * ''Untersuchungen über das Vorkommen und die Bedeutung der Vaterschen Körperchen'' (1867). * ''Elasticität und Festigkeit der Knochen'', 1876 - Elasticity and strength of bones. * ''Über den Ursprung der Milch und die Ernährung der Frucht im Allgemeinen'' (1879). * ''Urgeschichte der Menschen'', (two volumes) 1884 - Prehistory of man. * ''Homo sapiens ferus'' (1885) -

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

ferus. * ''Oder die Zustände der Verwilderten und ihre Bedeutung für Wissenschaft, Politik und Schule'' (1885). * ''Über die Bedeutung der wissenschaftlichen Anatomie'', 1886 - On the importance of scientific anatomy. * ''Atlas der Krystallregeneration'' (four volumes), 1896/97 - Atlas of "crystal regeneration". * ''Die Aufgaben des Lebens'' (1896). * ''Lehrbuch der Anatomie des Menschen'' (two volumes) - Textbook of

human anatomy Human anatomy (gr. ἀνατομία, "dissection", from ἀνά, "up", and τέμνειν, "cut") is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the human body. Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross ...

- (5th edition 1897/98), continued by

Friedrich Wilhelm Kopsch Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Kopsch (4 March 1868 in Saarbrücken - 24 January 1955 in Berlin) was a German anatomist born in Saarbrücken. Life He studied under Heinrich Wilhelm Waldeyer (1836-1921) at the University of Berlin, obtaining his med ...

(1868-1955).Google Books
Rauber-Kopsch Lehrbuch und Atlas der Anatomie des Menschen: Eingewiede Nervensystem Sinnersorgane

Bibliography

* Maie Toomsalu, ''The Legend is Alive: August Antonius Rauber, Professor of Anatomy'', University of Tartu, Tartu 2020, pp. 183

References

External links

*
Translated biography and list of publications
@ Pagel: Biographical Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Rauber, August 1841 births 1917 deaths People from Donnersbergkreis German anatomists German embryologists Academic staff of the University of Tartu Academic staff of Leipzig University People from the Palatinate (region)