Martin Henrichsen Vahl (10 October 1749 – 24 December 1804) was a Danish-Norwegian

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 ...

herbalist Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...

and

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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Biography

Martin Vahl was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

, Norway and attended

Bergen Cathedral School Bergen Cathedral School ( Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Lo ...

. He studied botany at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

under

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, ...

. He edited ''

Flora Danica ''Flora Danica'' is a comprehensive atlas of botany from the Age of Enlightenment, containing folio-sized pictures of all the wild plants native to Denmark, in the period from 1761 to 1883. History ''Flora Danica'' was proposed by G. C. Oede ...

'' fasc. XVI-XXI (1787–1799), ''Symbolæ Botanicæ'' I-III (1790–1794), ''Eclogæ Americanæ'' I-IV (1796–1807) and ''Enumeratio Plantarum'' I-II (1804–1805). He lectured at the

University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden The University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden ( da, Botanisk have), usually referred to simply as Copenhagen Botanical Garden, is a botanical garden located in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers an area of 10 hectares and is particul ...

from 1779 to 1782. Vahl made several research trips in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

between 1783 and 1788. He became

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

at the Society for Natural History at the University of Copenhagen in 1786 and was a full professor 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 ...

from 1801 to his death. In 1792, he was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 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 ...

. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark at age 55. His son

Jens Vahl Jens Laurentius Moestue Vahl (27 November 1796 – 12 November 1854) was a Danish botanist and pharmacist. Biography He was son of the Danish- Norwegian botanist and zoologist Martin Vahl (1749-1804). Jens Vahl graduated as a pharmacist in 181 ...

also became a

Authority name

This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Vahl when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Interna ...

References

Other sources

* Christensen, Carl (1932) Martin Vahl, pp. 85–88 in: Meisen, V. Prominent Danish Scientists through the Ages. University Library of Copenhagen 450th Anniversary. Levin & Munksgaard, Copenhagen.

External links

Facsimile of ''Enumeratio plantarum'', Hauniae, 1805–1806.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vahl, Martin 19th-century Danish botanists Botanists with author abbreviations 01 1749 births 1804 deaths Danish bryologists Danish mycologists Danish phycologists Pteridologists Botanists active in Africa 18th-century Norwegian botanists People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Uppsala University alumni University of Copenhagen alumni University of Copenhagen faculty Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 18th-century Danish botanists Scientists from Bergen