Edgar Allen

Edgar Allen (May 2, 1892 – February 3, 1943) was an American anatomist and physiologist. He is known for the discovery of estrogen and his role in creating the field of endocrinology.

Born on Cañon (Canyon) City, Colorado, Allen was educated at Brown University. After serving in World War I he worked at Washington University, until he was appointed to the chair of anatomy at the University of Missouri in 1923. Ten years later he was appointed to the chair at Yale University.

At Missouri, he began his studies of sex hormones. While it was commonly believed at the time that the female reproductive cycle was controlled by substance in the corpus luteum, Allen sought the answer in the follicles surrounding the ovum, leading to his discovery of estrogen, though it was identified six years later by Adolf Butenandt.

Allen died of a heart attack in 1943 while on duty with the United States Coast Guard.