Willem Vrolik (April 29, 1801 – December 22, 1863) was a Dutch anatomist and pathologist who was a native of Amsterdam. He was a pioneer in the field of vertebrate teratology.

He studied medicine at the University of Utrecht, and furthered his studies in Paris, where he received his degree in 1823. In 1829 he became a professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Groningen, and in 1831 a professor of anatomy, physiology and natural sciences at the Athenaeum Illustre (University of Amsterdam), where he remained for the rest of his career.

Vrolik made contributions in the fields of comparative anatomy and comparative zoology, and also did important research of skeletal disorders such as osteogenesis imperfecta. Along with his father, anatomist Gerardus Vrolik (1775–1859), he had amassed an anatomical collection of human and animal specimens consisting of body parts, fetuses and plaster casts that displayed various aspects of embryology, pathology, anatomy and congenital abnormalities. The Vrolik collection contained over 2000 specimens, and was to become known as the Museum Vrolikianum.

Willem Vrolik published teratological works on cyclopia, the pathogenesis of congenital anomalies, and a treatise on conjoined twins. In the 1840s he published Handboek der ziektekundige ontleedkunde (Handbook of pathological anatomy), as well as Tabulae ad illustrandam embryogenesin hominis et mammalium tam naturalem quam abnormem. The latter book containing numerous illustrative plates on the embryogenesis of vertebrates, including congenital anomalies of various species, including man. In 1850, the book won an award from the French Academy of Sciences.

[edit] Bibliography

• Natuur- en ontleedkundige opmerkingen over den chameleon, Vrolik, Willem, Amsterdam, Meyer, 1827.
• Natuur en ontleedkundige beschouwing van den hyperoodon, Vrolik, Willem, Haarlem, Loosjes, 1848.
• Bijdragen tot de natuurkundige wetenschappen, Van Hall, Herman Christiaan -- Vrolik, Willem 1801-1863 -- Mulder, Gerardus Johannes, 1802-1880, Amsterdam, J. van der Hey en zoon etc., 1826-32, 7 v. : plates, tables. ; 22 cm.

[edit] References

• Vrolik Museum Web Page; Biography of Willem Vrolik