Int. J. Dev. Biol. 53: 1165 - 1177 (2009)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.072492ja

Vol 53, Issue 8-9-10

Special Issue: Developmental Biology in Hispania (Spain & Portugal)

A glance at Spanish Embryology and Teratology during the XX Century through the academic life of Francisco Orts-Llorca (1905-1993)

Open Access | Essay | Published: 6 November 2009

Juan Aréchaga*^,1, Juan Jiménez-Collado² and Domingo Ruano-Gil³

¹University and Royal Academy of Medicine of the Basque Country, Bilbao, ²Complutense University of Madrid and Royal National Academy of Medicine, Madrid and ³University of Barcelona and Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

Francisco Ort-Llorca (1905-1993) was one of the most outstanding Spanish embryologists of the XX century. He was disciple of Henri Rouvière in Paris (France), Alfred Fischel in Vienna (Austria), Walther Vogt in Munich (Germany) and Pedro Ara in Madrid (Spain). From 1935, he was professor of Human Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine of Cadiz, belonged then to the University of Seville (accidentally, in the University of Valencia, during the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939) and, later on, at the Faculty of Medicine of Madrid (Complutense University) from 1954 to 1975. He was internationally recognized in anatomical sciences and stood out for his contributions to descriptive and experimental Embryology and Teratology, particularly in those aspects connected to the normal and pathological development of the heart and visual organs.

Keywords

Francisco Orts-Llorca, Spanish Embryology, Spanish Developmental Biology, Spanish Anatomy, History of Biology in Spain