Wolff, Kaspar Friedrich (1733–1794)

German surgeon and physiologist who is regarded as the founder of embryology. He introduced the idea that initially unspecialized cells later differentiate to produce the separate organs and systems of the plant or animal body.

Wolff was born in Berlin and studied at Halle and the Berlin Medical School. In 1766 he accepted an invitation from Catherine II of Russia to take the post of Academician for anatomy and physiology in St Petersburg. He remained there until his death.

Wolff produced his revolutionary work Theoria generationis in 1759. Until that time it was generally believed that each living organism develops from an exact miniature of the adult within the seed or sperm – the so-called preformation or homunculus theory. In fact, Wolff's view that plants and animals are composed of cells was still a subject of controversy, and his findings were largely ignored for more than 50 years.

His name is also associated with, among other parts of the anatomy, the Wolffian body, a structure in an animal embryo that eventually develops into the kidney.