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The Apostles of Linnaeus was several students of the botanist Carl Linnaeus who made botanical and zoological expeditions to various places in the world from the during the latter half of the 18th century. Most of the expeditions were either approved or suggested by Linnaeus and he was thus often very involved in his apostles expedition. Often he left them notes of what they should try to look for on their journey. The apostles often started their journey from Sweden, sometimes as a priest or doctor aboard a Swedish East India Company ship. After and during their journey the apostles often sent letters and botanical samples to Linnaeus and if they returned a part of their collection was normally given to Linnaeus. One of the apostles, Daniel Rolander, did not give any of his collection to Linnaeus which lead to him being spoken ill of by Linnaeus.

The expeditions were often very dangerous and seven of the apostles did not return from their expeditions. For example the first apostle sent out, Christopher Tärnström, died of a tropical fever in 1746 on Côn Sơn Island. Tärnström's widow was very angry with Linnaeus for making her children fatherless. After this Linnaeus preferred to send unmarried men as his apostles.

The expeditions of the apostles helped in spreading Linnaeus new system of classifying organisms. Many newly discovered plants, animals and insects were also classified by Linnaues and his apostles. A more far-reaching effect was that one of Linnaeus admirers, the English Botanist Joseph Banks, was inspired by the apostles and started a tradition that all research ships should have a naturals aboard. Thus the apostles journeys made future expeditions such as Charles Darwins expedition aboard HSM Beagle.[1]

Origins

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Carl Linnaeus was born in Råshult, Småland, Sweden on 23 May 1707.[2] From an early age Linnaeus was interested in botany and therefore he went to Uppsala University in 1728 to study botany and medicine.[3] After some years studying at Uppsala he went to Holland to take a degree in medicine.[4] In Holland he also published his Systema Naturae in which he described a new system of classifying plants.[5] Linnaeus returned to Sweden in May 1741 and was appointed Professor of Medicine at Uppsala University. Nine years later he also became the rector of Uppsala University. During his time at Uppsala University he taught many students; many who travelled to various places in the world to explore the flora and fauna and to spread his new system of classifying plants and animals. Those students who made expeditions around the world is called "Apostles", first by Linnaeus himself.[6]

The Apostles

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Apostle Expedition(s) Expedition summary Refs
Christopher Tärnström China (1746) Christopher Tärnström (1703-46) was the first apostle to be sent out. Tärnström had followed Linnaeus on his many excursions near Uppsala which lead to him asking permission of making a botanical expedition to China. In early 1746 Tärnström received free passage on a Swedish East India Company ship Calmar, heading for China, leaving his wife and children behind. With him he got a list from Linnaeus with instructions of what to try to bring back. Most of those things was plants such as the tea plant, animals and insects. He did, however, only reach Côn Sơn Island where the Calmar was forced to find a winter birth. On this island he died of a tropical fever 4 December without having sent any botanical or zoological object back to Sweden. His widow blamed Linnaeus for making her children fatherless. After Tärnström Linnaeus only allowed unmarried men to become his apostles. [7][8][9]
Pehr Kalm
North America (1747-51) Pehr Kalm (1715-79), born in Finland, becomes a student of Linnaeus in December 1740. He proposes to Linnaeus that he could travel to North America on a botanical expedition. Linnaeus concur and in November 1747 Kalm begins his journey to North America sponsored by the universities in Uppsala and Åbo. After a long stay in England on the way he reached Philadelphia in the autumn 1748. He stayed in North America for two and a half years, visiting the states Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and southern Canada, after which he returned to Sweden. Kalm is one of the few apostles who actually lived up to Linnaeus' hopes; bringing with him a large collection of pressed plants and seeds. His travel experience was later published in his three-volume book En resa til Norra America. [10][11][12]
Fredric Hasselquist Izmir, Egypt etc. (1749-1752) Fredric Hasselquist (1722-52) had heard Linnaeus talking about the botanically unexplored Eastern Mediterranean which inspired him to travel there. Hasselquist was poor and to make the expedition he was sponsored by, among others, Linnaeus and Olof Celsius. 7 August 1749 Hasselquist sailed from Stockholm for Izmir where he spent the winter. Subsequently he sailed to Egypt and stayed there ten months and then begun making his way back to Izmir, passing Syria, Cyprus, Rhodes and Chios on the way. He returned to Izmir with a rich collection of not only botanical and zoological findings but also minerals. Before he could return to Sweden he died 9 February 1952. During his expedition he had accumulated a big debt and Linnaeus was informed that Hasselquist's collections and manuscripts would not be sent home until the debt was paid. With the help of the Swedish queen Ulrika Eleonora the debt was paid so Linnaeus could receive Hasselquist's findings. In 1757 Linnaeus published Iter Palaestinium based on Hasselquist's collections and manuscripts. [13][14]
Olof Torén Surat and Guangzhou (1750) Olof Torén (1718-53) traveled to Surat, India with the Swedish East India Company as a priest in 1750. He continued to Guangzhou, China and then returned to Sweden. During his journey he had fell ill and died shortly after he returned in 1753. To Sweden he brought a number of large collections; he had also corresponded with Linnaeus during his journey and the letters were published posthumously as a appendix in Pehr Osbeck's travelogue. [15][16]
Pehr Osbeck
China (1750-1752) Pehr Osbeck (1723-1805) sailed from Göteborg to China in 1750 on the ship Prins Carl with the primary task to bring a tea plant to Linnaeus. He spent four months in Guangzhou where he collected many plants but not the tea plant. He returned to Sweden in June 1752 with his collection and several other objects and gives them to Linnaeus. [17][18][19]
Pehr Löfling
Spain and South America (1751-56) Pehr Löfling (1729-1756) was recommended by Linnaeus to the Spanish ambassador in Stockholm when he asked for help with exploring the Spanish flora. Löfling traveled to Madrid in 1751 where he stayed in about two years and explored the flora and fauna, regularly sending plants to Linnaeus. In 1754 the Spanish organised a expedition to South America and Löfling was invited to join them. The first stop was the Canary Islands where the company stayed a short time and then continued to Venezuela. In Venezuela Löfling collected plants with the help of his two drawers. Löfling stayed in South America until his death 22 February 1756 in Guyana. [20][21]
Daniel Rolander Suriname (1755) Daniel Rolander (1725-93) follows Linnaeus' acquaintance Carl Gustav Dahlberg to Suriname in 1755. On the way he becomes ill but is almost recovered when he arrives. In Suriname he tries to explore the rainforests but dislikes the climate. Additionally he developed a alcohol addiction and slowly his health began to decline. He stays for seven months and then returns with a collection containing plants and insects. He did not, however, give anything from his collection to Linnaeus which makes Linnaeus "furious." Linnaeus, determined to acquire parts of Rolander's collection, broke into Rolander's home and stole a Sauvagesia. After this incident their relationships ends and Linnaeus speaks ill of Rolander on several occasions. [22][23]
Anton Rolandsson Martin Spitsbergen (1758) Anton Rolandsson Martin (1729-85) was born in what is now Estonia and later came to Sweden to be taught by Linnaeus. Linnaeus helps Martin get a small grant from the Royal Academy of Sciences to go to Spitsbergen, an island in the Artic Ocean. He follows on a whaling expedition to his destination in 1758 but was only able to get ashore a few hours. Thus his discoveries are few but he manages to bring back some mosses and lichens to Sweden. Despite this Linnaeus, having a great respect for coldness, still praised Martin's expedition. [24][25]
Carl Fredrik Adler East Indies, China and Java (c. 1761) Carl Fredrik Adler (1720-61) sailed to the East Indies around 1761 on a Swedish East India Company ship. He also visited China and Java on the same expedition. His journey was short, in Java 1761 he died but had before that been able to send some items back to Linnaeus from China. [26]
Pehr Forsskål
Egypt and Yemen (1761-1763) Pehr Forsskål (1732-63) was born in Finland and became a student of Linnaeus when he was at the age of 18. Forsskål was asked if he wanted to join a Danish expedition, issued by the Danish king Frederick V, to the Middle East. He consulted Linnaeus and got permission to go. Although it was a Danish expedition Frederick V had stated that the findings would not be placed in Copenhagen until several international botanist (such as Linnaeus) had studied them. Forsskål and the expedition sailed in the winter 1761, the first stop being Alexandria, Egypt. Forsskål made many findings at Suez and was one of the first to describe the flora and fauna of the Red Sea. The expedition reached Yemen in April 1763 where Forsskål found a Commiphora which Linnaeus was particularity interested in. However, Forsskål could never return the Commiphora to Linnaeus personally, he died 11 July 1763 of malaria. Forsskål's Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabca and Descriptiones Animalis, that he worked on during the expedition, was posthoumously published by the expedition member Carsten Niebuhr. [27][28][29]
Göran Rothman Tunisia and Libya (1773-76) Göran Rothman (1739-78) had studied medicine at Uppsala University and had made his dissertation with Linnaeus as his supervisor. In 1773 Rothman traveled to North Africa, commissioned by the Swedish Academy of Sciences. He visited Libya and Tunisia but is unable to go as far into the country as he wished due to unrest. He returned to Sweden in 1776 with very few findings.

[30][31]

Johan Peter Falck Russia (1768-74) Johan Peter Falck (1732-74) came to Uppsala in 1751 to become one of Linnaeus' students at the university. He followed Linnaeus on his expedition to the island province Gotland and later became the tutor of Linnaeus' son Carl. In 1760 Linnaeus encourages Falck to follow the apostle Forsskål to the Danish expedition to Egypt but Flack is not approved by the Danish. In 1768 the Russian Academy of Sciences created several expeditions to explore the eastern parts of Russia. Thanks to Linnaeus, Falck was given the responsibility of one of the expeditions and head out the same year. The expedition explored many places in Russia such as Volgograd and the steppes. Falck explored and described both flora and fauna as well as customs of natives. During the journey Falck get addicted to opium which causes a depression that he suffered from during the expedition. In 1774 the expedition reach Kazan where Falck commit suicide. His collections and journals were sent to Saint Petersburg and was later finished and published as Beyträga zur topografischen Kenntniss des Russichen Reichs in 1785-86 by Samuel Georg Gmelin. [32][33]
Daniel Solander
Australia etc. (1768-1771) and Iceland (1772) Daniel Solander (1733-82) was living in Linnaeus house during his time as a student in Uppsala. Linnaeus was very fond of him, promising Solander his oldest daughter's hand in marriage and told Solander that he would become his predecessor. On Linnaeus recommendation Solander traveled to England in 1760 where he did important work in spreading the linnaean taxonomy. Two years later Linnaeus got Solander a position as professor in botany in Saint Petersburg. Linnaeus was surprised and disappointed when Solander answered that he had decided to stay in England; damaging their relationship severely, Linnaeus hereafter called Solander "the ungrateful Solander." In 1768 Solander followed James Cook on his first journey to the Pacific Ocean aboard the Endeavour, employed by the English botanist Joseph Banks. The Endeavour sailed to Australia, Asia, Africa and several other places where Solander and Banks made many natural sciences discoveries. About a year after the expedition, in 1772, Solander and Banks made another botanical journey to Iceland. He never sent anything from his collection home to Linnaeus but continued to organise according to Linnaeus system after their break. [34][35]
Anders Sparrman
China (1765-67), South Africa (1771-72 and 1775) Oceania etc. (1772-1775) Anders Sparrman (1748-1820) had, before he became a student of Linnaeus, made a two year long journey to China as a surgeon on a Swedish East India Company ship. In 1771 he sailed to South Africa where he tutored and explored the flora and fauna on his free time. The next year he was asked to join Cook's second expedition on Resolution. On the journey he visited and studied plants in Oceania and South America etc. He returned to South Africa two years later after having made many botanical findings. He stayed there for another eight months until he returned to Uppsala in 1776. In 1787 he traveled to Senegal on an expedition purposed to find land for colonisation. He published his travel diary Resa till Goda Hopps-Udden, södra Polkretsen och omkring Jordklotet, samt till Hottentott- och Caffer-Landen Åren 1772-1776 in three volumes 1783-1818. [36][37]
Carl Thunberg
South Africa, Japan etc. (1770-1779) Carl Thunberg (1743-1828) came to Uppsala at the age of 18, just as Linnaeus. When he had made his dissertation in 1770 he traveled to Paris. On the way back to Sweden he met Linnaeus friend Johan Burman in Amsterdam; with the help of Burman's influence Thunberg became a surgeon in the Dutch East India Company. He followed on a expedition aimed for Japan, at that time only open for Dutch ships. The expedition stopped in South Africa in 1772 where it would remain for three years. During this time Thunberg found about 300 new plant species and sent many of his findings to Linnaeus. In 1775 the expedition continued to Java and from there to Japan. All foreigners in Japan was forced to stay on the island Dejima outside Nagasaki and it was thus hard for Thunberg to study the flora. He managed to get many of the translators to bring him different plants and also found plants on the gardens of Dejima. The only time Thunberg himself could explore the landscape was when he visited the Shogun in Edo. After 15 months he begun his journey back to Sweden, passing Sri Lanka on the way. From his findings in Japan Thunberg published Flora Japonica and Flora Capensis from his South African findings. [38][39]
Andreas Berlin Guinea (1773) Andreas Berlin (1746-73) studied in Uppsala University with Linnaeus as his student for a while and then traveled to London to find a botanical expedition he could join. In 1773 he travels with the English naturalist Henry Smeathman to Guinea. The expeditions purpose was to explore the central parts of Africa but before they can get on the mainland Berlin dies on the island Isles de Los of a stomach illness. Before his death Berlin managed to send a few plants to Linnaeus.

[40][41]

Adam Afzelius
Sierra Leone (1792-96) Adam Afzelius (1750-1837) joined a English expedition to Sierra Leone in 1792 after having studied and lectured in Uppsala. He returned in 1796 after having made many findings which he described in some of his botanical writings. He also wrote Linnaeus autobiography. [42]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 184. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 12. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). pp. 23–25. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 94. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 98. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). pp. 173–174. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 185-186. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 48-49. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ "Christopher Tärnström's journal". Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  10. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 186. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 58-62. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ Jarrell, Richard A. "Pehr Kalm". Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  13. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 186-187. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ Frängsmyr et al. (1983). p. 54-55. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ "Olof Torén". Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  16. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 53. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 187-188. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ^ "Pehr Osbeck". Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  19. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 52-53. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 189-190. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ^ "Pehr Löfling". Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  22. ^ "Daniel Rolander". Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  23. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 104-115. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ "Anton Rolandsson Martin". Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  25. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 95. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ^ "Carl Fredrik Adler". Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  27. ^ "The Apostles" (PDF). Uppsala University. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  28. ^ "Peter Forsskål". Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  29. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 90-93. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. ^ "Göran Rothman". Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  31. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 94. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ^ "Johan Peter Falck". Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  33. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 74-76. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  34. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 191-192. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  35. ^ "Daniel Solander". Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  36. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 192-193. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  37. ^ "Anders Sparrman". Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  38. ^ Blunt, Wilfrid (2004). p. 193-194. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  39. ^ "Carl Peter Thunberg". Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  40. ^ "Andreas Berlin". Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  41. ^ Fagerstedt and Sörlin (2004). p. 10-13. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  42. ^ "Adam Afzelius". Retrieved 2010-05-19.

Bibliography

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