Rudolf Virchow--father of cellular pathology

Rudolf Virchow, the famous German physician-scientist-statesman and social activist of nineteenth century Berlin, contributed greatly to the science of pathology by his teaching, research, and publishing. He consolidated the idea of cellular changes as the basis of disease and introduced many modern concepts and terms into medical science. He led in defining orderly, methodical procedures for the autopsy and emphasized its importance to medicine. Virchow's life and work fundamentally influenced and altered modern medical concepts of disease.