Carl Benda

Carl Benda was one of the first microbiologists to use a microscope in studying the internal structure of cells. In an 1898 experiment using crystal violet as a specific stain, Benda first became aware of the existence of hundreds of these tiny bodies in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells and assumed that they reinforced the cell structure. Because of their tendency to form long chains, he coined the name mitochondria. These bodies had first been noted in 1857 by the physiologist and pioneer of the light microscope, Albert von Kölliker, and were later termed "bioblasts" by Richard Altmann in 1886.