Wilhelm Friedrich Philipp (Wilhelm) Pfeffer (1845–1920)

German botanist and plant physiologist. Studied chemistry at Göttingen and Marburg and qualified as an apothecary before moving to Berlin and then Würzburg to study botany. Appointed privat-dozent in Marburg, 1871, and began studies of plant irritability and osmosis. Appointed professor extraordinarius of pharmacy and botany, Bonn, 1873; moved to Basel in 1877, and to Tübingen in 1878. Professor of botany at the University of Leipzig, and director of the Botanical Institute, from 1887.