AbstractThe ultrastructural details of human oocytes from four primordial follicles and one early primary follicle are presented. A fifth primordial follicle is represented by a paraffin section stained by hematoxylin and eosin. The paranuclear Balbiani vitelline body, contsisting of a centrosome surrounded by endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complexes, compound aggregates, annulate lamellae, and mitochondria is described. The annulate lamellae arise as an evagination from the outer leaflet of the nuclear envelope and interdigitate with folds of the endoplasmic reticulum which also is continuous with the outer leaflet of the nuclear envelope. Structural aspects of annulate lamellae are discussed in relationship to current ideas of nuclear membrane ultrastructure and to their possible role in nucleo‐cytoplasmic transfer. A biographical note on the life of Edouard Gérard Balbiani is present