August von Froriep was a German anatomist who was born in Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

. He studied medicine in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, and after earning his doctorate in 1874, he became an assistant to Christian Wilhelm Braune

Christian Wilhelm Braune

Christian Wilhelm Braune was a German anatomist and professor of topographical anatomy at the University of Leipzig. He is known for his excellent lithographs regarding cross-sections of the human body, and his pioneer work in biomechanics...

 (1831-1892). Later he was a prosector

Prosector

A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and pathology....

 and eventually a professor at the University of Tübingen. Following his death in 1917, he was succeeded by Martin Heidenhain

Martin Heidenhain

Martin Heidenhain was a German anatomist who was born in Breslau. His father was physiologist Rudolf Heidenhain , and his mother, Fanny Volkmann was the daughter of anatomist Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann...

 (1864-1949) as professor of anatomy at Tübingen

Tübingen

Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...

. He was the son of anatomist and publisher Robert Friedrich Froriep

Robert Froriep

Robert Friedrich Froriep was a German anatomist who was a native of Jena. He was the father of anatomist August von Froriep ....

 (1804-1861).

Froriep specialized in studies involving the development and biological morphology

Morphology (biology)

In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....

 of the head and vertebra. His name is lent to "Froriep's ganglion", which is a temporary group of nerve cells associated with the hypoglossal nerve

Hypoglossal nerve

The hypoglossal nerve is the twelfth cranial nerve , leading to the tongue. The nerve arises from the hypoglossal nucleus and emerges from the medulla oblongata in the preolivary sulcus separating the olive and the pyramid. It then passes through the hypoglossal canal...

 of an embryo

Embryo

An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...

.

In 1911, Froriep claimed to have identified the "famous" skull of poet Friedrich von Schiller from a mass gravesite, of which he published an article titled Die Schädel Friedrich von Schillers und des Dichters Begräbnisstätte. However, there are detractors to Froriep's claim, and as of late-2007 the authenticity of the skull remains unproven.