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Class 11th Biology - Historical Background and Discovery of Cell Historical Background and Discovery of Cell Robert Brown  (1773- 1858) discovered  nucleus  in the center of all cells. He established that the nucleus was the fundamental and constant component of the cells. In 1838, a German botanist  Mathias Jacob Schleiden  (1804-1881) put forth the idea that cells were the units of structure in the plants. In 1839, his co-worker, a German Zoologist, Theodor Schwann applied Schleiden’s thesis to the animals. Both of them postulated that the cell is the basic unit of structure and function in all life forms. This simple, basic and biological generalization is known as  Cell Theory or Cell Doctrine. In later years the cell theory was extended and refined further.  Nageli (1817-1891) showed in 1864 that plant cells arise from the pre-existing cells. In 1855, a German pathologist  Rudolf Virchow  (1821-1902) confirmed Nageli’s principle of the cellular basis of life’s continuit