François-Vincent Raspail, L.L.D., M.D. (25 January 1794 – 7 January 1878) was a French chemist, naturalist, physician, physiologist, attorney, and socialist politician.
Raspail was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. A member of the republican Carbonari society and Freemasonry, where he met François Arago, Victor Schoelcher and Auguste Blanqui, Raspail was imprisoned during Louis Philippe's reign (1830–1848) and was a candidate for presidency of the Second Republic in December 1848. However, he was then involved in the attempted revolt of 15 May 1848 and in March 1849 was again imprisoned as a result. After Louis Napoleon's 2 December 1851 coup, his sentence was commuted to exile, from which he returned to France only in 1862. In 1869, during the liberal phase of the Second Empire (1851–1870), he was elected deputy from Lyons. He remained a popular republican during the French Third Republic after the short-term Paris Commune in 1871.
Raspail died in Arcueil.
His sons, Benjamin Raspail (1823), Camille Raspail (1827), fr (1831), and fr (1840) were also all notable figures in the Third Republic. His daughter, Marie Raspail (1837-1876), was a freethinker and republican; she was a staunch supporter of her father and died from an illness contracted while caring for him during his time as a political prisoner towards the end of his life.
Raspail was one of the founders of the cell theory in biology. He coined the phrase omnis cellula e cellula ("every cell is derived from a [preexisting] cell") later attributed to Rudolf Karl Virchow. He was an early proponent of the use of the microscope in the study of plants. He was also an early advocate of the use of antiseptic(s) and better sanitation and diet. His "Manuel annuaire de la santé 1834" is portrayed in the painting "Nature morte avec oignons/Still life with a plate of onions" by Vincent van Gogh (1889 Kroller-Muller).
After the revolution of 1830, Raspail became involved in politics. He was President of the Human Rights Society, and was imprisoned for that role.