Lavdovskii, Mikhail Dormidontovich

Born Dec. 29, 1846 (Jan. 10, 1847), in Tbilisi; died Dec. 22, 1902 (Jan. 4, 1903), in St. Petersburg. Russian histologist.

Lavdovskii was given a teaching position with the Medical and Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg (now the Military Medical Academy) upon his graduation there in 1870. He was given a professorship in 1895. Lavdovskii was one of the founders of comparative histology and microphysiology in Russia. He described the fine structure of the auditory nerve-ending apparatus and the nerve endings of various other organs. He traced the development of a number of elements of the nervous system and studied the structure and function of the formed elements of the blood (leucocytes, erythrocytes, and blood platelets). He devised a silver chromate impregnation method. He took a position asserting the biological completeness of the cells formed by direct division.