Sven Nilsson (8 March 1787 – 30 November 1883) 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 ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Life and work

Nilsson was director of the

Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet 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 ...

(Sweden's natural history museum) from 1828 to 1831, professor of Natural History at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion 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 1821. Nilsson corresponded with

William Yarrell William Yarrell (3 June 1784 – 1 September 1856) was an English zoologist, prolific writer, bookseller and naturalist admired by his contemporaries for his precise scientific work. Yarrell is best known as the author of ''The History of Br ...

, acting as the authority on Swedish avifauna for Yarrell's ''

History of British Birds (1843) William Yarrell's ''A History of British Birds'' was first published as a whole in three volumes in 1843, having been serialized, three sheets (=48 pages) every two months, over the previous six years. It is not a history of ornithology but a ...

''. For example, Yarrell records Nilsson as saying "it infests every house", referring to the house sparrow. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1869.

Legacy

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of turtles, '' Nilssonia'', was named in honor of Nilsson by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...

in 1872.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Nilsson", p. 191). *The mountain Sven Nilssonfjellet in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

is also named in his honor.

Books by Nilsson

*''De variis mammalia disponendi modis'' (1812) *''Ornithologia suecica'' (1817-1821) *''Prodromus ichthyologiae scandinavicae'' (1832) *''Observationes ichthyologicae'' (1835) *''Skandinavisk fauna'' (1820-1853) *''Historia molluscorum Sueciae'' (1823) *''Petrificata suecana'' (1827) *''Illuminerade figurer till skandinavisk fauna'' (1832-1840) *''Prodromus ichthyologiae'' (1832) *
Skandinaviska Nordens Ur-invånare
' (1838-1843
2nd ed. 1866
- Sven Nilsson describes four stages of culture transition: 1. Hunting and Fishing 2. Pastoralism 3. Agriculture 4. Civilization *''Die Ureinwohner des skandinavischen Nordens'' (1863-1868) *
The Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia: An Essay on Comparative Ethnography
' (3rd ed. 1868)

Life and work

Legacy

Books by Nilsson

See also

References

External links