Albert Frey-Wyssling, 8 November 1900 - 30 August 1988

Students of biology learning today the basic facts about plant cell walls or the ultrastructure of plastids do not normally come upon the name of the late Professor Albert Frey-Wyssling, simply because some of his major achievements belong to the common knowledge of contemporary biology. The first edition of his book, the Submicroscopic morphology of protoplasm , which marks the beginning of cytological research beyond the resolution power of the light microscope, was published half a century ago in 1938. Indeed, Frey-Wyssling was the most prominent of pioneers who endeavoured to elucidate the fine structure of plant cells many years before the advent of electron microscopy. This memoir offers an opportunity to recall the exciting era of discoveries in ultrastructural cytology that is associated with Albert Frey-Wyssling’s substantial contributions.