Kauffmann Doig was born in Chiclayo, and spent his childhood and infancy in small localities of Cajamarca and Amazonas, particularly in Cocochillo (today Camporredondo) on the margin right hand of the River Marañon.
His father was German but on the maternal side, he has ancestors of Scottish and Spanish origin, as well as ancestors who forged the millenary Mochica and Lambayeque or Sican cultures.