Wilhelm Hofmeister | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 18 May 1824 |
| Died | 12 January 1877 (aged 52) |
| Nationality |  Germany |
| Alma mater | none |
| Known for | discovering the alternation of generations in plants |
| Spouse | 1. Muriel Agnes Lurgenstein (died) 2. Johanna Schmidt |
| Children | 9 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | botany, biology |
| Institutions | University of Heidelberg, University of Tübingen |
| Doctoral advisor | none |
Wilhelm Friedrich Benedikt Hofmeister (18 May 1824 – 12 January 1877) was a German biologist and botanist. He "stands as one of the true giants in the history of biology and belongs in the same pantheon as Darwin and Mendel."[1] Largely self-taught he was the first to study and establish alternation of generations and the details of sexual reproduction in the bryophytes.
- ^ Kaplan, Donald R; Cooke, Todd J (1996), "The genius of Wilhelm Hofmeister: the origin of causal-analytical research in plant development", American Journal of Botany, 83 (12): 1647–1660, doi:10.2307/2445841, JSTOR 2445841.