Friedrich, Frederick, or Fritz was born in Cologne to a wealthy Jewish family: his father, Max Bodenheimer, was a prominent lawyer who, together with Theodor Hertzl, was a co-founder of the World Zionist Organization.

In 1914 he joined the University of Munich to study medicine but was interrupted by World War I where he served on the Eastern Front.

[2] In 1936, Bodenheimer published The Biological Background of the Human Population Theory based on university lectures he gave in Tel Aviv.

Three of his major works include Insects as Human Food (1951), The History of Biology, An Introduction (1958) and Animal and Man in Bible Lands (1956).

His Materialien zur Geschichte der Entomologie bis Linné ("Materials for the History of Entomology until Linne") was published by Wilhelm Junk in Berlin and copies of the book were burned by the Nazis.