Max Carl Starkloff (December 30, 1858 – January 15, 1942) was an American physician and the Health Commissioner for St. Louis, Missouri, from 1895 to 1903 and from 1911 to 1933.

[4] His father, Dr. Hugo von Starkloff, was a German immigrant who served the United States Army as a surgeon before and during the American Civil War.

[1] Upon his arrival to take up his post, von Starkloff "landed in the middle of the cholera panic and sprang into action, setting up sanitary measures that kept the epidemic from reaching steamers bound for the United States.

[7] The next year, the U.S.'s third most deadly tornado of record struck St. Louis, leaving up to a 3-mile-wide (4.8 km) swath of destruction in the urban core, and killing a couple of hundred and injuring a thousand more,[8] in addition to destroying 8,000 buildings.

Starkloff started to make his way to the hospital from his office at City Hall when a falling pole knocked him over and broke his right arm.

[11] Aware of the incidence of the flu in New York in early 1918[12] and particularly in Boston that summer,[3] Starkloff began preparations for St. Louis.

[13] Starkloff then published an article on mitigating pneumonia, advising people to avoid the sick, crowds, alcohol, and fatigue, and to seek fresh air.

[16] Starkloff asked the Board of Aldermen for special powers, but Mayor Kiel thought that no action should be taken at that time.

[15] However, by October 7, 115 influenza cases were reported in St. Louis,[15] and given the nearly thousand cases at Jefferson Barracks, Starkloff thought that drastic action was necessary and prevailed upon Mayor Kiel and the Board of Aldermen to agree to extraordinary measures.

[3][17] With the waning of the flu pandemic in St. Louis, Starkloff relented to the gradual reopening of public places.

[1] After a decade-long chronic illness, Starkloff died at home of a subsequent bout of pyelonephritis on January 15, 1942.