Jan Evangelista Purkyně
Czech biologist, physiologist, doctor, inventor and politician
- Lived
- 1787–1869
- Country
- Austria–Hungary
Updated September 2026
About Jan Evangelista Purkyně
Jan Evangelista Purkyně was a Czech anatomist and physiologist. In 1839, he coined the term "protoplasma" for the fluid substance of a cell. He was one of the best known scientists of his time. Such was his fame that when people from outside Europe wrote letters to him, all that they needed to put as the address was "Purkyně, Europe".
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.