Luc Hoffmann

Hans Lukas "Luc" Hoffmann (23 January 1923 – 21 July 2016) was a Swiss ornithologist, conservationist, and philanthropist. He co-founded the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), helped establish the Ramsar Convention for the protection of wetlands, and set up the research centre in the Camargue area of France. In 2012, Luc Hoffmann's MAVA Foundation, along with WWF International, established the Luc Hoffmann Institute. He was the author of more than 60 books, mostly ornithological. Early life Luc Hoffmann was born in Basel, the second son of the businessman and art-lover Emanuel Hoffmann and the sculptor Maja Hoffmann-Stehlin. His father died in a car crash when he was nine years old and the following year his older brother died of leukaemia. His mother then married the Swiss composer Paul Sacher. Despite the family's great wealth, Hoffmann was raised frugally. His enthusiasm for the natural world developed during his childhood and he spent much of his free time bird watching in the Basel area. His first academic paper, "Der Durchzug der Strandvögel in der Umgebung Basels" (the passage of seabirds in the vicinity of Basel) appeared in Der Ornithologische Beobachter (the Bird Observer) in 1941, when he was still a schoolboy. In 1941, he enrolled at the University of Basel, studying botany and zoology. In 1943 he was conscripted into the Swiss Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant. After the end of the second world war, Hoffmann conducted scientific research and earned a doctorate (PhD) for his work on the different color patterns of the chicks of the common tern (Sterna hirundo) in the Camargue on the Mediterranean coast of France. His supervisor at the University of Basel was Adolf Portmann. Conservation work In 1947, Hoffmann bought an estate in the Camargue and in 1954 he established the Tour du Valat biological research station on it. The continued presence of greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) in France has been attributed to conservation work conducted at Tour du Valat. Hoffmann also supported the breeding of Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) nearby and their reintroduction to their native Mongolia in 2004. Generations of ecologists have trained at Tour du Valat, including John Krebs. More than 60 Ph.D.s have been awarded for research conducted at Tour du Valat by students enrolled at universities in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom. From 1953 to 1996, Hoffmann was on the board of Hoffmann-la Roche.