Adam Afzelius (8 October 175020 January 1837) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Afzelius was born at

Larv Larv is a village situated in Vara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 216 inhabitants in 2005. It was the birthplace of the botanist Adam Afzelius Adam Afzelius (8 October 175020 January 1837) was a Swedish botanist and an apo ...

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

in 1750. He was appointed teacher of

oriental languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turk ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in 1777, and in 1785 demonstrator of

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

. In 1793 he was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

. In 1800, Adam Afzelius became member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Between 1792 and 1796, as part of the Sierra Leone Company, he made two journeys to

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, where he reported on the

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

, climate and natural resources of the region. While here, he also collected botanical specimens that were later acquired by Uppsala University.Afzelius, Adam (1750-1837)
at JSTOR Global Plants In 1797-98 he acted as secretary of the Swedish

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and on 19 April 1798, he was elected Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Returning to Sweden, he again took up his position as ''botanices demonstrator'' at Uppsala, and was in 1802 elected president of the "Zoophytolithic Society" (later called the Linnaean Institute). In 1812 he became professor of materia medica at the university. He died in Uppsala in 1837. In addition to various botanical writings, he published the autobiography of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1823. His brother,

Johan Afzelius Johan Afzelius (13 June 1753 in Larv – 20 May 1837 in Uppsala) was a Swedish chemist and notable as the doctoral advisor of one of the founders of modern chemistry, Jöns Jacob Berzelius. He was the brother of botanist Adam Afzelius and physi ...

(1753–1837), was professor of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at Uppsala; and another brother,

Pehr von Afzelius Pehr von Afzelius (14 December 1760, Larv – 2 December 1843 in Uppsala, Sweden) was a Swedish medical doctor and professor in Uppsala. Afzelius was the brother of botanist Adam Afzelius, chemist Johan Afzelius, and doctoral advisor of Jacob Be ...

(1760–1843; the "von" was added when he was ennobled), who became a professor of medicine at Uppsala in 1801, was distinguished as a medical teacher and practitioner. The botanical genus ''

Afzelia ''Afzelia'' is a genus of plants in family Fabaceae. The thirteen species all are trees, native to tropical Africa or Asia. The genus name of ''Afzelia'' is in honour of Adam Afzelius (1750–1837), a Swedish botanist and an apostle of Carl Lin ...

'' (subfamily

Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name ''Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae ...

) commemorates his name, and in 1857, the plant

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

Anubias afzelii ''Anubias afzelii'' is a species belonging to the Aroid genus ''Anubias''. It was first described scientifically by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott in 1857, based on material collected in Sierra Leone by Adam Afzelius, after whom the species was named. ...

'' was named after him by

Heinrich Wilhelm Schott Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (7 January 1794 in Brünn (Brno), Moravia – 5 March 1865 at Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist well known for his extensive work on aroids (Araceae). He studied botany, agriculture and chemistry at ...

Works

* ''De vegetabilibus svecanis observationes et experimenta'', 1785. * "The botanical history of Trifolium alpestre, medium, and pretense", London : Benjamin White and Son, 1791. * "Observations on the genus Pausus, and description of a new species", London : Benjamin White and Son, 1798. * ''Genera Plantarum Guineensium'', 1804. * ''Remedia guineensia quorum collectionem quintam'', 1813-17 (one of many authors). * ''Stirpium in Guinea medicinalium species novæ'', 1818. * ''Reliquiae Afzelianae : sistentes icones fungorum quos in Guinea collegit et in aere incisas excudi''; curavit Adamus Afzelius. interpretatur

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. Career Fries was born at Femsjö (Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö. He acquired ...

(1860). * "Adam Afzelius Sierra Leone Journal 1795-1796" (translated into English, 1967; Alexander Peter Kup; Carl Gösta Widstrand).WorldCat Search
published works

References

* Pont, A. C. 1995 The Dipterist C. R. W. Wiedemann (1770–1840). His life, work and collections. ''Steenstrupia'' 21 125-154 {{DEFAULTSORT:Afzelius, Adam 1750 births 1837 deaths People from Vara Municipality Botanists with author abbreviations Swedish biologists Swedish botanists Pteridologists Swedish mycologists Swedish entomologists Botanists active in Africa Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Age of Liberty people Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina