Anders Retzius
Encyclopedia
Anders Retzius was a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 professor of anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

 and a supervisor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

He enrolled at Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...

 in 1812 where he studied medicine, and alternated with studies in Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...

, until he in 1818 became a licensed doctor of medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

. Through his friendship with Jöns Jakob Berzelius
Jöns Jakob Berzelius
Jöns Jacob Berzelius was a Swedish chemist. He worked out the modern technique of chemical formula notation, and is together with John Dalton, Antoine Lavoisier, and Robert Boyle considered a father of modern chemistry...

, he as early as 1824 was appointed temporary professor of anatomy at the Karolinska Institute, an institute to which he dedicated much of his strength for many years. In 1830 he was also appointed temporary supervisor there, and in 1840 he was appointed both permanent professor and supervisor.

During the next decades he made many anatomical discoveries, for instance about the finer parts of the teeth, of the skull, of the muscles and of the nervous system. He was also an anthropologist, whose studies of the human cranium led to the classifications dolichocephalic and brachycephalic. He was considered to be very knowledgeable and was elected into many of the scientific academies at the time. He is credited with defining the cephalic index
Cephalic index
Cephalic index is the ratio of the maximum width of the head multiplied by 100 divided by its maximum length ....

, which is the ratio of width to length of one's head.

Retzius was a polygenist. Retzius studied many different skull types from different races, because the skulls were so different from each race he believed that the races had a separate origin.

The retropubic space
Retropubic space
Retropubic space is the extraperitoneal space between the pubic symphysis and urinary bladder.It is also known as "Retzius' space", after Anders Retzius....

 of Retzius is named after him. The peritoneum
Peritoneum
The peritoneum is the serous membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity or the coelom — it covers most of the intra-abdominal organs — in amniotes and some invertebrates...

 lies deep to the posterior layer of transversalis fascia
Transversalis fascia
The transversalis fascia is a thin aponeurotic membrane which lies between the inner surface of the Transversus abdominis and the extraperitoneal fascia....

 and is very adherent to it. Distally, this close contact remains in the area lateral to the epigastrics. Medially, however, the peritoneum reflects on the roof of the bladder
Urinary bladder
The urinary bladder is the organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys before disposal by urination. A hollow muscular, and distensible organ, the bladder sits on the pelvic floor...

 and runs sharply dorsally, away from the deep layer of transversalis fascia. The separation of transversalis fascia and peritoneum contains loose fatty tissue allowing for the filling of the bladder. This space is called the retropubic space of Retzius (from the Clinic of Digestive Surgery, University Hospital St-Pierre, Brussels).

Retzius also engaged himself in the battle against the Swedish drinking habits – which at this time had a significant impact on the Swedish society – with works on the harmful effects liquor has on the body.

In 1826, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...

.

He was the father of Gustaf Retzius
Gustaf Retzius
Magnus Gustaf Retzius was a Swedish physician and anatomist who dedicated a large part of his life to researching the histology of the sense organs and nervous system.-Biography:...

.
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