17 Facts About Luc Hoffmann

Hans Lukas "Luc" Hoffmann was a Swiss ornithologist, conservationist, and philanthropist.

Luc Hoffmann co-founded the World Wildlife Fund, helped establish the Ramsar Convention for the protection of wetlands, and set up the Tour du Valat research centre in the Camargue area of France.

Luc Hoffmann was the author of more than 60 books, mostly ornithological.

Luc Hoffmann was born in Basel, the second son of the businessman and art-lover Emanuel Hoffmann and the sculptor Maja Hoffmann-Stehlin.

Luc Hoffmann supported breeding of Przewalski's horse nearby and the reintroduction of the indigenous animals to their native Mongolia in 2004.

From 1953 to 1996, Luc Hoffmann was on the board of Luc Hoffmann-la Roche.

Luc Hoffmann was appointed as its vice-president at the inaugural meeting and served in that role until 1988.

Luc Hoffmann helped establish the Donana National Park in Andalusia in 1963.

Luc Hoffmann helped set up the national appeal in Austria in 1963.

Luc Hoffmann was one of the founding fathers of the Ramsar Convention, one of the first intergovernmental treaties to protect the environment.

In 1994, Luc Hoffmann established the MAVA Foundation, which distributes grants for nature conservation in the Mediterranean, the west coast of Africa and the Alps.

Yolande Clergue's original ambition to create a Fondation Van Gogh was given new momentum by Luc Hoffmann, who established a permanent framework in 2008 called Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles for activities designed to preserve the memory of Vincent van Gogh in Arles and to foster contemporary art.

Luc Hoffmann made significant contributions to nature conservation in: the Neusiedler See in Austria; the Hortobagy National Park in Hungary; the Prespa region that straddles Greece, Albania and Macedonia; and the Banc d'Arguin National Park in Mauritania.

Luc Hoffmann was the son of industrialist Emanuel "Manno" Hoffmann and sculptor Maja born Stehlin, and the brother of Vera Oeri-Hoffmann.

Luc Hoffmann used his wealth to endow the MAVA Foundation, which funds nature conservation projects worldwide.

Luc Hoffmann was a chevalier of the National Order of the Legion d'honneur and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 1953, in Vienna, Luc Hoffmann married Daria Razumovsky, the second child of Count Andreas Razumovsky and Princess Katharina Nikolajevna Sayn-Wittgenstein, who fled Russia in 1918 after the October Revolution.