Louis-Antoine Ranvier

Louis-Antoine Ranvier (b. Lyon, France, October 2, 1835; d. Vendranges, France, March 22, 1922, French physician, pathologist, anatomist and histologist, discoverer of the myelin sheath and the nodes of Ranvier, subcellular structure which covers the axons of neurons.

Ranvier studied medicine at Lyon, graduating in 1865. He founded a small private research laboratory with Victor André Cornil (1837-1908), and together they offered a course in histology to medical students. They also wrote together an important textbook on histopathology. In 1867 he entered the Collège de France and worked as an assistant to Claude Bernard (1813-1878), later, he was appointed to its chair of general anatomy in 1875.

In 1878 he discovered myelin and the famous nodes which received his name. Other anatomical structures which bear his name are the Merkel-Ranvier cells, melanocyte-like cells in the basal layer of the epidermis that contain catecholamine granules; and Ranvier's tactile disks, a special type of sensory nerve ending. In 1897 he founded the scientific journal Archives d'Anatomie Microscopique with Edouard-Gérard Balbiani (1823-1899).

Some of his most noted students were Ferdinand-Jean Darier, Justin Marie Jolly, Joaquín Albarrán, Luis Simarro Lacabra (1851-1921), Fredrik Georg Gade (1855-1933)

He retired in 1900 to his estate in Thélis and died in 1922.