Karl Rudolphi
Swedish-German biologist (1771-1832)
Karl Asmund Rudolphi (14 July 1771 – 29 November 1832) was a Swedish-born German naturalist, who is credited with being the "father of helminthology".
Life
Rudolphi was born in Stockholm to German parents. He was awarded his PhD in 1793 and his medical doctorate in 1794 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.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Karl Rudolphi” is swedish-German biologist (1771-1832). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Karl, Rudolphi and Swedish-German, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “swedish-German biologist (1771-1832)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q63159. VIAF identifies the subject as 61644877. The Library of Congress control number is n87828097. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1771, 1832, 1793 and 1794.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Karl Rudolphi”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Karl Rudolphi primary sources, Karl Rudolphi archive and Karl research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Karl Rudolphi”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Karl Rudolphi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.