Otto Funke

Otto Funke (October 27, 1828 - August 17, 1879) was a German physiologist born in Chemnitz.

Otto Funke

He studied in Leipzig and Heidelberg, and in 1852, he became a lecturer of physiology at the University of Leipzig. In 1853, he became an associate professor to the medical faculty at Leipzig, and in 1860, a professor of physiology at the University of Freiburg.[1] One of his better known students at Leipzig was physiologist Karl Ewald Konstantin Hering (1834-1918).

In 1851, Otto Funke was the first scientist to successfully crystallize hemoglobin ((in German): "Hämoglobinkristalle"), which he first called "Blutfarbstoff". This work was a precursor to Felix Hoppe-Seyler's important studies of hemoglobin. Funke also performed research of blood formation in the spleen, and investigations into the effects of curare.