Historically, the modern idea of pharmacophore was popularized by Lemont Kier, who mentions the concept in 1967 and uses the term in a publication in 1971. Nevertheless, F. W. Shueler, in a 1960s book, uses the expression "pharmacophoric moiety" that corresponds to the modern concept.   
The development of the concept is often erroneously accredited to Paul Ehrlich. However neither the alleged source nor any of his other works mention the term "pharmacophore" or make use of the concept.