Emil Hans Willi Hennig (20 April 1913 – 5 November 1976) was a German biologist who is considered the founder of phylogenetic systematics, also known as cladistics. In 1945 as a prisoner of war, Hennig began work on his theory of cladistics, which he published in German in 1950, with a substantially revised English translation published in 1966. With his works on evolution and systematics he revolutionised the view of the natural order of beings. As a taxonomist, he specialised in dipterans (true flies).