Contents Index

Lazzaro Spallanzani

Lazzaro Spallanzani, 1729-1799, Italian biologist.

Spallanzani did extensive research on the reproduction of animals, and definitively disproved the theory of spontaneous generation (1768). In 1779 he discovered the workings of animal reproduction, which requires semen (carrying spermatazoa) and an ovum. In 1780 he applied this discovery and performed the first artificial insemination (of a dog).