Otto Funke

Otto Funke (October 27, 1828 - August 17, 1879) was a German physiologist who was a native of Chemnitz.

He studied at Leipzig and Heidelberg, and in 1852 became a lecturer of physiology at the University of Leipzig. In 1856 he became a professor of physiological chemistry in Leipzig, and in 1860 a professor of physiology and zoology at the University of Freiburg. 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 ((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.