Matthias Schleiden was a botanist who, along with zoologist Theodor Schwann,

proposed the unified cell theory in the late 1830s. The theory states that all
living things are composed of one or more cells, the cell is the basic unit of
life, and
new cells arise from existing cells. Schleiden observed that different parts of
plant
organisms are composed of cells or derivatives of cells. He also studied living
cells and observed that their contents moved within and between the cells and
along
fibers composed of elongated cells joined end to end. Schleiden's work started a
branch of biology called plant cytology.
1804
Matthias Jakob Schleiden is born in Hamburg.

1824
Schleiden begins studying law in Heidelberg.

1838
Schleiden publishes his cell theory in the journal Archiv für Anatomie, Physiologie
und wissenschaftliche Medicin.

1859
Schleiden returns to Germany and settles in Frankfurt am Main.

1881
Schleiden dies in Frankfurt am Main at the age of 77.
He helped biologists know that every tissue is made of cells.