Carl Gustaf Ekeberg (10 June 1716 – 4 April 1784) was a Swedish physician, chemist and explorer. He made several voyages to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

as a sea captain. He brought back reports of the

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

tree and wrote a number of books.

Biography

Ekeberg was born at

Djursholm Djursholm () is one of four suburban districts in, and the seat of Danderyd Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. Djursholm is included in the multi-municipal Stockholm urban area. Djursholm is divided into a number of different areas: Djursh ...

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

, Sweden. He was the son of Gustaf Ekeberg and Catharina Ebba Fast. He was a student at

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 ...

for three years (1726–1729); pharmacy student at

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås ...

(1730–1736); provisor in the pharmacy at

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

(1737–1738). Trained as a pharmacist and chemist, Ekeberg started his career as a ship's doctor, and became an expert navigator. Between 1742 and 1778 he made ten trips to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

, becoming a captain in 1750 for the

Swedish East India Company The Swedish East India Company ( sv, Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or ''SOIC'') was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East ...

. He brought back numerous natural history specimens from his voyages for

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 ...

, with whom he had a close friendship, and was honoured by having the genus ''

Ekebergia ''Ekebergia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Meliaceae. They are dioecious trees or shrubs, with odd-pinnate leaves. Its native range is tropical and southern Africa. Its genus name of ''Ekebergia'' is in honour of Carl G ...

'' created. Swedish ships from 1750 avoided calling at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, preferring to reprovision in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

. Ekeberg though, was on good terms with the Cape governor,

Rijk Tulbagh Ryk Tulbagh (14 May 1699, Utrecht – 11 August 1771, Cape Town) was Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony from 27 February 1751 to 11 August 1771 under the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Tulbagh was the son of Dirk Tulbagh and Catharina Catte ...

, and called on him when visiting the Cape. He was an excellent cartographer, compiling good maps of the coastlines along which he sailed, publishing them in his book ''Ostindisk Resa 1770-71'' (Stockholm 1773). Ekeberg was also responsible for having

Anders Erikson Sparrman Anders Sparrman (27 February 1748, Tensta, Uppland – 9 August 1820) was a Swedish naturalist, abolitionist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography left, Miniature of Sparrman at the time of his travels with James Cook. By unknown art ...

, whom he had met on a voyage to Canton in 1765, sent to the Cape in 1772 to take up a tutoring post. 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 1761. He was elected a Fellow of the

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

in Stockholm and a Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

in 1777. In 1779, he was honoured by the naming of a

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

of plants from Africa, ''

'', which contains 4 species of plant.

Personal life

In 1744, he married Hedvig Erlant (1719-1809). At the beginning of the 1760s, Ekeberg purchased three farms which he brought together to form Altomta gård in the parish of Tensta. He died during 1784 at Altomta. He was buried at

Tensta Church Tensta Church ( sv, Tensta kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church in the Archdiocese of Uppsala in Uppsala County, Sweden. It is a representative example of the Brick Gothic style in Sweden. History and architecture Tensta Church was probably commi ...

(''Tensta kyrka'') in

Uppsala County Uppsala County ( sv, Uppsala län) is a county or ''län'' on the eastern coast of Sweden, whose capital is the city of Uppsala. It borders the counties of Dalarna, Stockholm, Södermanland, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and the Baltic Sea. Provi ...

, Sweden.

Selected works

*''Voyages aux Grandes-Indes dans les années 1770 et 1771'' (''Ostindisk Resa 1770-71''),

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, 1773 *''Moyen facile d'inoculer la petite vérole, écrit qui popularisa la pratique de l'inoculation''

References

External links

Carl Gustav Ekeberg and the invention of Chinese export painting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekeberg, Carl Gustaf 1716 births 1784 deaths People from Danderyd Municipality Uppsala University alumni 18th-century Swedish physicians Swedish East India Company people Swedish explorers Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Knights of the Order of Vasa

Biography

Personal life

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links