Johan Hjalmar Théel (14 June 1848 – 20 July 1937) was a Swedish zoologist and university professor.

Early life

Théel was born on 14 June 1848 in

Säter Säter is a locality and the seat of Säter Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 11,161 inhabitants in 2020. Säter is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city''. Statistics Sweden, howeve ...

, Sweden. He used to go on hunting trips along the coast of Norway in his youth and became fascinated by the plants and animals he encountered, especially the marine life. He met the zoologist

Sven Ludvig Lovén Prof Sven Ludvig Lovén (6 January 1809 – 3 September 1895), was a Swedish marine zoologist and malacologist. The Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences within the University of Gothenburg was named in his honour. Life Lovén was born in Sto ...

who sparked his interest in sipunculid or peanut worms, especially the genus '' Phascolion''. He studied 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 ...

and ''Phascolion'' was the subject for his

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

, written in 1875. He was also an artist and included his own illustrations in his published articles. In 1875, he accompanied the explorer

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the Fenno-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friher ...

to the mouth of the

Yenisei River The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...

in an attempt to find the

Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP) is the shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands of Canada is accordingly called the Northwest Passage (N ...

. He joined him on a similar voyage the following year and discovered a

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

new to science, which he named ''

Elpidia glacialis ''Elpidia glacialis'' is a species of sea cucumber in the family Elpidiidae. It is found at abyssal depths in the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea and the north Atlantic Ocean. It was first described in 1876 by the Swedish zoologist J ...

''. He was inducted into 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 1884.

Career

Théel became a lecturer at Uppsala University and was appointed professor of zoology in 1889. He was curator of the invertebrate department of the

Swedish Museum of Natural History The Swedish Museum of Natural History ( sv, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, literally, the National Museum of Natural History), in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg. The ...

from 1892 to 1916 and was involved in cataloguing the large collection of northern and Arctic marine invertebrates. He also became director of the Kristinebergs Zoological Station at

Fiskebäckskil Fiskebäckskil is a locality in Lysekil Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden, at the mouth of the Gullmarn fjord. It had 379 inhabitants in 2010. Once primarily a fishing community, it transformed into a shipping community in the 19th ce ...

in 1892, remaining in this post until 1908. Théel was asked to classify the sea cucumbers, class Holothuroidea, that had been collected during the

Challenger expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by Wil ...

, a British scientific expedition that investigated the deep sea and its fauna. He published his findings in the "Report on the Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of HMS Challenger 1873–76". His report came in two parts. The first (1881) deals with the order

Elasipodida Elasipodida is an order of sea cucumbers. They have numerous appendages, including conical papillae and leaf-like tentacles. Although many species are benthic, a number are pelagic, and may have their appendages modified to form sails or fins. ...

and is fundamental to the knowledge of this group, and the second (1885) covers other holothurians. Théel died on 20 July 1937 in

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 ...

, Sweden.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theel, Johan Hjalmar Swedish zoologists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences People from Säter Municipality Uppsala University alumni Academic staff of Uppsala University 1848 births 1937 deaths Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala

Early life

Career

See also

References