Karl Asmund Rudolphi (14 July 1771 – 29 November 1832) was a Swedish-born German naturalist, who is credited with being the "father of helminthology".

[2] His first great publication was a study of parasitic worms, the Enterozoorum Sive Vermium Intestinalium Historia Naturalis.

His second, the "Synopsis cui accedunt mantissima duplex et indices locupletissima" was the first work to detail the life cycle of important nematode parasites of humans, such as Ascaris lumbricoides.

In 1821, Rudolphi published his "Grundriss der Physiologie", where he argued that the human genus should be divided into species, not into races.

He is also commemorated by the German Parasitological Society, who award the Rudolphi Medal for scientific excellence.