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Adam Afzelius

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Adam Afzelius
FRS
A. Afzelius, oil byC.F. Breda.
Born(1750-10-08)8 October 1750
Larv,Västergötland,Sweden
Died20 January 1837(1837-01-20)(aged 86)
Uppsala,Sweden
NationalitySwedish
OccupationBotanist
RelativesJohan Afzelius(brother) Pehr von Afzelius(brother)
Scientific career
Author abbrev. (botany)Afzel.

Adam Afzelius(8 October 1750 – 20 January 1837) was aSwedishbotanistand anapostle of Carl Linnaeus.Afzelius was born atLarvinVästergötlandin 1750. He was appointed teacher oforiental languagesatUppsala Universityin 1777, and in 1785 demonstrator ofbotany.[1]In 1793 he was elected a member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences.In 1800, Adam Afzelius became member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.[2]

Between 1792 and 1796, as part of theSierra Leone Company,he made two journeys toWest Africa,where he reported on thegeography,climate and natural resources of the region. While there, he also collected botanical specimens that were later acquired by Uppsala University.[3]

In 1797–98, he acted as secretary of the SwedishembassyinLondonand on 19 April 1798, he was elected Fellow of theRoyal Society.Returning to Sweden, he again took up his position asbotanices demonstratorat Uppsala, and was in 1802 elected president of the "Zoophytolithic Society" (later called theLinnaean Institute). In 1812 he became professor ofmateria medicaat the university. He died in Uppsala in 1837. In addition to various botanical writings, he published the autobiography ofCarl Linnaeusin 1823.[1]

His brother,Johan Afzelius(1753–1837), was professor ofchemistryat Uppsala; and another brother,Pehr von Afzelius(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.[1]

The botanical genusAfzelia(subfamilyCaesalpinioideae) commemorates his name,[3]and in 1857, the plantspeciesAnubias afzeliiwas named after him byHeinrich Wilhelm Schott.[4]The standardauthor abbreviationAfzel.is used to indicate this person as the author whencitingabotanical name.[5]

Works[edit]

  • 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. interpretaturElias Magnus Fries(1860).[6]
  • "Adam Afzelius Sierra Leone Journal 1795–1796" (translated into English, 1967; Alexander Peter Kup; Carl Gösta Widstrand).[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Afzelius, Adam".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 362.
  2. ^"Mitglieder".
  3. ^abAfzelius, Adam (1750-1837)at JSTOR Global Plants
  4. ^Schott, H. (December 1857). "Aroideen Skizzen".Österreichisches Botanisches Wochenblatt(in German and Latin).7(50): 398–399.doi:10.1007/BF02071618.
  5. ^International Plant Names Index.Afzel.
  6. ^HathiTrust Digital Librarypublished works
  7. ^WorldCat Searchpublished works
  • Pont, A. C. 1995 The DipteristC. R. W. Wiedemann(1770–1840). His life, work and collections.Steenstrupia21 125-154
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