Alexander Rollett

Who was Alexander Rollett?

Alexander Rollett was an Austrian physiologist and histologist born in Baden bei Wien, Niederösterreich.

He studied with Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke in Vienna, and in 1863 became a professor of physiology and histology at the University in Graz. He was a prime factor in making Graz an international center for physiological training and education. Between 1872 and 1903 he was rector of the university four times, and from 1893 was president of the Styrian Medical Association.

He was also a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a corresponding member of the Societas Medicorum Svecana and the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences.

He was the author of many scientific papers on gastric glands, connective tissue, blood cells, tendons, nerves, etc. He also penned treatises on the construction and physiology of striated muscle fibers, and works involving the eye and eyesight that discussed topics such as binocular vision, color in Newton's rings and subjective color. His name is associated with "Rollett's stroma", which is defined as an insoluble, spongy network forming the framework of a red blood cell. Embedded within the interstices of Rollett's stroma is hemoglobin.