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It is believed that Zacharias Jansen's father, Hans, helped him build the first microscope in 1595. Zacharias wrote to a Dutch diplomat, William Boreel, about the invention. When the physician of the French king inquired about the invention in the 1650's, Boreel recounted the design of the microscope.
He was also the first to record and observe muscle fibres, bacteria, spermatozoa and blood flow in capillaries (small blood vessels). Born in Delft, the Netherlands, on October 24, 1632, Anton van Leeuwenhoek (in Dutch Antonie van Leeuwenhoek) was the son of a basket maker. history of the compound microscope. Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723) was a Dutch tradesman and scientist, best known for his work on the development and improvement of the microscope and also for his subsequent contribution towards the study of microbiology.