Eugen Fischer was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on 5th June, 1874. A supporter of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) Fischer, along with Edwin Baur and Fritz Lenz, published Human Hereditary Teaching and Racial Hygiene. The book became one of the standard works of German racialism.

Fischer's influence grew when he was became Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Hereditary Teaching and Eugenics in Berlin. After Adolf Hitler gained power in 1933 he got Fischer appointed as Rector of the University of Berlin.

Fischer retired in 1942 and after the war wrote his memoirs, Encounters with the Dead (1959). The book failed to mention the millions of people who had died in extermination camps because of his racist theories. Eugen Fischer died on 9th July, 1967.