Franz Josef Gall (9 March 1758 – 22 August 1828) was a neuroanatomist, physiologist, and pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain.
Gall was born in Baden, in the village of Tiefenbronn to a wealthy Roman Catholic wool merchant. The Galls had been the leading family in the area for over a century. As the second eldest son, he was intended for the priesthood but chose instead to study medicine at the University of S...
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Franz Josef Gall (9 March 1758 – 22 August 1828) was a neuroanatomist, physiologist, and pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain.
Gall was born in Baden, in the village of Tiefenbronn to a wealthy Roman Catholic wool merchant. The Galls had been the leading family in the area for over a century. As the second eldest son, he was intended for the priesthood but chose instead to study medicine at the University of Strasbourg. He later completed his degree in Vienna, Austria.
He died in Paris, on 22 August 1828. Although married he had no direct descendent. However, direct descendants of his brothers lived in Germany until 1949. A collection of his skulls can be seen at the Rollet Museum in Baden bei Wien, Austria, where several of his relatives now live.
Around 1800, Gall developed "cranioscopy", a method to determine the personality and development of mental and moral faculties on the basis of the external shape of the skull. Cranioscopy («cranium»:...
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