Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring (January 28th, 1755, Thorn, then Royal Prussia, now Torun Poland - March 2nd, 1830, Frankfurt am Main, then a free city, now Germany) was one of the most respected Germanic scientists of his time. Whilst working on his philosophy doctorate (Ph.D.) thesis, when he was only 23 years old (circa 1778), Sömmerring proposed a new classification for the arrangement of the cranial nerves, based on the order in which they become visible on the surface of the brain. Amongst his many other anatomical studies worthy of notice, in 1809 Sömmerring began studying the human olfactory system. During this period, he published a detailed text with sketches, being the first to describe in detail the human vomeronasal organ (VNO), working in parallel with Jacobsen, whose name has been synonymous with the VNO, despite denying its existence in man. Nonetheless, Sömmerring's contributions are numerous. Some of his other works include the description of the structure of the female skeleton and how it differs from the male and the first description of the Pterodactyl in 1812, with which he has been epitomized in modern times and denoted due to his erroneous concepts on it. Even though he studied a wide range of subjects from medical to political, most of his work has been overlooked or forgotten but it is important to understand the range of his contributions.
Keywords: cranial nerves; cranial nerves classification; history of anatomy; jacobsons organ; olfaction; pheromones; pioneer; pterodactyl; samuel thomas von sömmerring; vomeronasal organ.