Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart

Who was Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart?

Friedrich Andreas Sigismund Leuckart was a German doctor and naturalist.

He was born in Helmstedt in Lower Saxony and studied medicine at the University of Göttingen. From 1816 he made several voyages of exploration.

In 1823 he was appointed Privatdozent at the University of Heidelberg and taught comparative anatomy, zoology and veterinary science starting in 1829. In 1832 he moved to Freiburg and continued his teaching there.

He wrote notable works on marine invertebrates, in particular Versuch einer naturgemaessen Eintheilung der Helminthen and Einleitung in die Allgemeinen Naturgeschichte.

He is commemorated by the parasitic worm species Calliobothrium leuckartii van Beneden, 1850.

He was the uncle of the zoologist Rudolf Leuckart.