Olaf Alfred Hoffstad

Olaf Alfred Hoffstad (18 March 1865 – 15 September 1943) was a Norwegian botanist, writer, school principal and Conservative politician.

Born in the mid-Norwegian town of Stjørdalshalsen to a mercantile family, he initially embarked on an educational career.

His first botanical book was published in 1891; it sold well, being released in nine revised editions before Hoffstad's decease during the Second World War.

[1][2] In 1883, then aged 18, the young Hoffstad finished secondary education at Trondhjem Cathedral School, graduating with a cand.real.

[1][2][3] He subsequently taught at girls' schools in Trondhjem, Egersund, Haugesund and Røros for shorter periods before and after 1890.

[4] In the summers of 1896 and 1897, Hoffstad travelled from the estuary of the Trondheimsfjord to Leka Municipality, at the border between Nordland and Nord-Trøndelag counties.

He wrote an article for the journal Nyt Magasin for Naturvidenskaberne in 1899 where he described what he had observed, amongst other things the discovery of Utricularia ochroleuca in Northern Norway.