Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934)
Spanish histologist

Cajal established the foundation of modern neuroanatomy, providing detailed descriptions of nerve cell organization in the central and peripheral nervous system. He was the first to conclude that the basic units of the nervous system were represented by individual cells (now known as "neurons"). This conclusion is now the basic principle of nervous system organization. In addition, Cajal defined "the law of dynamic polarization," stating that the nerve cells are polarized, receiving information on their cell bodies and dendrites and conducting information to distant locations through axons; this is a basic functional principle of neural connections. Cajal and Camillo Golgi shared the Nobel Prize in 1906 for their work on the nervous system.

Adapted from www.nobel.se/medicine/articles/cajal/