Background
He was born in Rouffach in Alsace on August 8, 1518, the son of Theobald Wolffhart and Elizabeth Kürsner, sister of the Protestant theologian Conrad Pellicanus.
He was born in Rouffach in Alsace on August 8, 1518, the son of Theobald Wolffhart and Elizabeth Kürsner, sister of the Protestant theologian Conrad Pellicanus.
From 1535 to 1539, Conrad studied philosophy in Heidelberg.
He later changed his German name, Wolffhart, to the humanist name Lycosthenes. In 1542, he left Heidelberg for Basel where he began teaching Grammar and Dialectics. In 1545, at the age of 27, he became Deacon in the Church of Saint-Leonard.
On December 21, 1554, he suffered from hemiplegia and lost the ability to use his right hand.
He learned to write with his left hand and continued his literary works until his death from apoplexia on March 25, 1561, at the age of 43.