Karl Hoffmann (7 December 1823 – 11 May 1859) was a German

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and naturalist. Hoffmann was born in

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

and studied at Berlin University. In 1853 he travelled to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

with Alexander von Frantzius to collect natural history specimens. With his wife, Emilia Hoffmann, he settled in San José, where he operated a consultation clinic and small

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

from his home. In order to supplement his income, he sold wine and liquor. He served as a doctor in the Costa Rican army during the invasion of William Walker in 1856. He died of typhoid in

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas (canton), Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which is made from the Puntar ...

. Hoffmann is commemorated in the names of a number of animals, including

Hoffmann's two-toed sloth Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (''Choloepus hoffmanni''), also known as the northern two-toed sloth is a species of sloth from Central and South America. It is a solitary, largely nocturnal and arboreal animal, found in mature and secondary rainf ...

(''Choloepus hoffmanni'' ),

Hoffmann's woodpecker Hoffmann's woodpecker (''Melanerpes hoffmannii'') is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Honduras south to Costa Rica. Taxonomy and systematics Hoffmann's woodpecker was originally descr ...

(''Melanerpes hoffmannii'' ), the

sulphur-winged parakeet The sulphur-winged parakeet (''Pyrrhura hoffmanni''), also known as Hoffmann's conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. T ...

(''Pyrrhura hoffmanni'' ), Hoffmann's antthrush (''Formicarius hoffmanni'' ), Hoffmann's earth snake ('' Geophis hoffmanni'' ), and a

millipede Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a resu ...

''Chondrodesmus hoffmanni'' (Peters, 1864).

Works about Karl Hoffmann

*''Karl Hoffmann : naturalista, médico y héroe nacional'', by Luko Hilje Q; Santo Domingo de Heredia : INBio, 2006. (in Spanish). *''Karl Hoffmann : cirujano mayor de ejército expedicionario'', by Luko Hilje Q;

Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...

, C.R. : CUNA, 2007.WorldCat Identities
publications. (in Spanish).

References

1823 births 1859 deaths Scientists from Szczecin German naturalists 19th-century German physicians People from the Province of Pomerania Deaths from typhoid fever Costa Rican physicians Physicians from Szczecin German emigrants to Costa Rica {{Germany-med-bio-stub