Carl Asmund Rudolphi

Karl Rudolphi
Karl Asmund Rudolphi (1771-1832)
Born	14 July 1771 , Sweden
Died	29 November 1832 (1832-11-30) (aged 61) Berlin, Germany
Institutions	University of Greifswald University of Berlin
Alma mater	University of Greifswald
Doctoral advisor	Christian von Weigel
Doctoral students	Johannes Peter Müller
Known for	Father of helminthology Sei whale
Author abbrev. (botany)	Rudolphi

Karl Asmund Rudolphi (14 July 1771 – 29 November 1832) was a Swedish-born naturalist, who is credited with being the "father of helminthology".

Rudolphi was born in Stockholm to German parents. He was awarded his doctorate in 1795, from the University of Greifswald, where he was appointed Professor of Anatomy. He worked widely across the fields of botany, zoology, anatomy and physiology. He investigated the anatomy of nerves, carried out studies of plant growth and was an early champion of the view that the cell is the basic structural unit of plants. In 1804, Karl Rudolphi, along with J.H.F. Link were awarded the prize for "solving the problem of the nature of cells" by the Königliche Societät der Wissenschaft (Royal Society of Science), Göttingen, for proving that cells had independent rather than common walls.

His first great publication was a study of parasitic worms, the "Enterozoorum Sive Vermium Intestinalium Historia Naturalis". This is the first publication to describe the Nematoda. His second, the "Synopsis cui accedunt mantissima duplex et indices locupletissima" was the first work to detail the life cycle of important nematode parasites of humans, such as Ascaris lumbricoides.

In 1810 he was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Berlin, a position he held until his death. He served two terms as rector of the University, and founded the |Berlin Zootomical Museum (later the Museum für Naturkunde). In 1816, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.