Marcello Malpighi (1628–94)

Italian anatomist and embryologist. Doctor of medicine and philosophy, Bologna, 1653. Professor of theoretical medicine, Pisa, 1656–9. Professor of medicine, Messina, 1662–6. Professor of practical medicine, Bologna, 1660–2 and 1666–91. Chief physician to Pope Innocent XII from 1691. Undertook scientific correspondence with the Royal Society of London from 1667. Discovered the connections between arteries and veins, confirming the theory of circulation of the blood.