Christiaan Karel Hoffmann

Christiaan Karel Hoffmann (Leiden University)

Christiaan Karel Hoffmann (born July 16, 1844 in Heemstede , † July 27, 1903 in Leiden ) was a Dutch doctor and zoologist.

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Hoffman was the son of Godlieb Hoffman and his wife Carolijne Francoise Westenberg. He had attended schools in Haarlem and in 1859 the Athenaeum Illustre Amsterdam . After studying medicine at the University of Utrecht , he received his doctorate there in 1866 with the thesis Over den anatomical bouw van het reukslijmvlies . After studying at the University of Göttingen , he acquired the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy there in 1871 with his thesis on the physique of echinoderms under the title Zur Anatomie der Echinen und der Spatangen . He then worked in the mental hospital as a doctor Sea Mountain atHaarlem and then as a prosector in Amsterdam and Leiden.

In August 1872 he was appointed curator for invertebrates at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden after the post became vacant due to the death of Jan Adrianus Herklots . In 1874 he ended his career at the museum and replaced Emil Selenka , who took up a professorship in Erlangen in April 1874 . On November 3, 1874, he had received an appointment as professor of zoology, comparative anatomy and physiology at the University of Leiden . He took up this position with the speech Over de arbeidsverdeeling en ontwikkeling in de natur on January 14, 1875. His successor at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie was Johannes Govertus de Man (1850–1930).

Hoffmann's main research interests were comparative anatomy , morphology and ontogenesis of both vertebrate and invertebrate animals . During his time as a curator, he wrote a work on the crustaceans and echinoderms of Madagascar . In 1890/91 he was rector of the University of Leiden . On May 4, 1874, he became a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and became a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion. In 1892 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

Hoffmann was married to Alijdia Reijnders.

Works (selection)

• Onderzoekingen over den anatomischen bouw van de membrana olfactoria en het peripheral uiteinde van den nervus olfactorius , 1866
• The osteology and myology of Sciurus vulgaris L. compared with the anatomy of the Lemurids and Chiromys, and on the position of the latter in the natural system , 1870
• On the anatomy of the Echinen and Spatangen , 1871
• Contributions to the comparative anatomy of vertebrates , 1872
• HG Bronn's Classes and Orders of the Animal Kingdom: Vol. 6. Vertebrates. Amphibians , 1873
• Bijdrage tot de Kennis of the morphology van den Schouder: gordel in het borstbeen bij Reptilien, Vogels, zoogdieren en den Mensch , 1879
• Investigations into the construction and development history of the Hirudineen , 1880
• On the ontogeny of bony fish , 1881
• The formation of the mesoderm, the formation of the notochord, and the development of the neurenteric canal in avian embryos , 1883
• Snakes and Reptile Evolution , 1890
• Lizards and water lizards , 1890
• On the history of the development of the sympatheticus: The history of the development of the sympatheticus in the Selachians (Acanthiasvulgaris) , 1900

literature

• LB Holthuis: 1820–1958 Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie Chjm Fransen, C. van Achterberg, Pj van Helsdingen (ed.) Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum 1995 ( PDF online ) (Dutch)
• How is that? Uitgevers-Maatschaapij “Vivat”, Amsterdam, 1902, p. 207
• Onze Hoogleeraren. Portretten en Biografieën. Nihgh & van Ditmar. Rotterdam, 1898, p. 43

Web link

• Record at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences