Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, later Fritz Hoffmann-von der Mühll (24 October 1868 – 18 April 1920), was a Swiss businessman who founded the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-LaRoche & Co.
Early life
Fritz Hoffmann was born in Basel, Switzerland on 24 October 1868, the third child of Friedrich Hoffmann and Anna Elisabeth Merian.[1] His godparents were his maternal grandfather Johan Heinrich Merian von der Mühll; his uncle, the Mayor of Basel, Carl Felix Burckhardt von der Mühll; and Anna Von der Mühll.[2] His family were wealthy businesspeople from Basel's social elite ("the Daig").[3] They provided both employment experience and investment at the beginning of his business career.
In the 1870s and 80s, Hoffman completed primary and high school in Basel and advanced to complete an apprenticeship at a bank in the francophone part of Switzerland.[4] When he returned to Basel in 1889, he entered a second internship at a pharmaceutical company.