Erik Acharius
Erik Acharius | |
---|---|
Born | 10 October 1757 |
Died | 14 August 1819 | (aged 61)
Citizenship | Sweden |
Alma mater | Uppsala University |
Known for | Pioneering lichenology |
Awards | Member of the Linnean Society |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Botany Lichenology |
Academic advisors | Carl Linnaeus |
Author abbrev. (botany) | Ach. |
Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish
Life
Acharius was born in 1757 to Johan Eric Acharius and Catharina Margaretha Hagtorn in Gävle.[1] He received a private education until he was admitted to Gävle Gymnasium in 1770.[1] Later he matriculated at Uppsala University in 1773 where he studied natural history and medicine under Linnaeus and was the last student to defend a dissertation before him.[2] Acharius's dissertation titled, Planta Aphyteia, was on a vascular plant species (Hydnora) collected in Southern Africa by Carl Peter Thunberg, which Linnaeus incorrectly classified as fungi. Thus he is known as "Carl Linnaeus last disciple" or the last pupil of Linnaeus. After graduating from Uppsala in 1776, he later worked for the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm and completed his medical studies at Lund University in 1782.[3] He was appointed town medical officer in Vadstena in 1785, district medical officer in Östergötland County in 1789, director of the new Vadstena Hospital (which he had initiated) in 1795, and titular professor in 1803.[4] As a cartoonist, Acharius Johan illustrated Peter Westring's work Svenska lafvarne color history (1805) and Carl Peter Thunberg's Flora Capensis .
In 1787 Erik Acharius married Helena Dorotea Scholander (1762–1804), the daughter of a trader, in Landskrona. After Helena's death Acharius married Margareta Maria Hoffberg on December 31, 1804. She was the daughter of Gottfrid Hoffberg who was in charge of production of saltpeter for munitions in Skänninge.[1] In total Erik Acharius had four children, Lars Gustaf Acharius, Jean Torkel Acharius, Catharina Theodora Ohrling (née Acharius) and Charlotta Wilhelmina Acharius.[5]
Acharius spent the remainder of his life in Vadstena, where he died of a stroke while in his household garden examining a Spanish collection of lichens on 14 August 1819, at the age of 61.[2]
Work in lichenology
In his influential works, Acharius introduced many lichen-related terminology that remain in common use today. Starting with designating the pits on the underside of Sticta lichens as cyphellae in 1794, he added the terms apothecium, cephalodium, podetium, proper margin, soredium, and thallus in 1803; thalline margin in 1810; and mazaedium in 1817.[15]
Legacy
Acharius's international reputation influence many new lichenologist from all over Europe. In 1804 Friedrich Weber (1781–1823) and Daniel Matthias Heinrich Mohr (1780–1808), two German naturalists, published Naturhistorische Reise durch einen Theil Schwedens which heavily featured his work on lichens and also included four illustrations by Acharius.[16] Furthermore, William Borrer who pioneered lichenology in Britain (and is often called the father of British lichenology) was heavily influence by Acharius's specimens and publications received by the Linnean society in London. These collections and books were studied by Borrer in 1809 and served as the basis for his own work.[2] Additionally Thomas Gage published A Monograph of the Genus Cenomyce: Consisting of Coloured Drawings of Each Species and Variety, As Described in the Lichenographia Universalis of Acharius in 1815, which contained illustrations of every species and variation of the genus Cenomyce as described in Lichenographia universalis.[17] To this day several of Acharius's original classification schema are still used in lichen taxonomy.[18] The International Association for Lichenology has named its medal for lifetime achievement in lichenology the Acharius Medal after him.[19] and also in 1992 installed a commemorative plaque on the house in Vadstena where he lived for many years.[20]
Publications and honors
He was a member of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund (1795), the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1796), the Linnean Society of London (1801), appointed Knight of the Order of Vasa (1809), and the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala (1810).
The plant genus
The collections of Acharius are distributed over several museums: the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki, which holds the Botanical Museum in Uppsala, the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Botanical Museum in Lund. His papers are in the Library of Uppsala University.[14] There are also specimens that he collected in the Natural History Museum, London.[25]
The following is a list of Erik Acharius's publications:
Lichenographiae svecicae Prodromus (Beginning of a Lichenography of Sweden) 1798[26]
Methodus qua omnes detectos Lichenes (A Method by which Everyone Can Identify Lichens) 1803[27]
Lichenographia universalis (A Universal Lichenography) 1810[11]
Synopsis methodica Lichenum (Taxonomical Arrangement of Lichens) 1814[12]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Sernander., K. “Erik Acharius - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon.” Fredrik Teodor Borg - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=5503.
- ^ a b c d Thell, A., Kärnefelt, I., Seaward, M., & Westberg, M. (Eds.) (2013). In the footsteps of Erik Acharius. 20th biennial meeting of the Nordic Lichen Society. Vadstena 11–15 August 2013. Programme and Abstracts. Nordic Lichen Society.
- ^ Hofberg, Herman, et al. “Acharius, Erik (Svenskt Biografiskt Handlexikon).” Acharius, Erik, Project Runeberg, 24 Mar. 1997, runeberg.org/sbh/achareri.html.
- ^ “Erik Acharius.” The Mushroom Journal, www.mushroomthejournal.com/greatlakesdata/Authors/Acharius601.html.
- ^ “Erik Acharius.” Ilse Luise Ledermann-Citroen - Biographical Summaries of Notable People - MyHeritage, MyHeritage, www.myheritage.com/names/erik_acharius.
- ^ Anderberg, Arne. “Erik Acharius, the Father of Lichenology.” Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet - Startsida, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, 7 Nov. 2014, www.nrm.se/en/forskningochsamlingar/botanik/botaniskhistoria/erikacharius.310.html.
- ^ Frödén, Patrik. “Lichenology in Lund – an Historical Overview | The Lichenologist.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 6 Aug. 2009, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/lichenologist/article/lichenology-in-lund-an-historical-overview/12AD4A9CCFD0292CC73E7C3A17B8964D.
- ^ “Erik Acharius, Olof Swartz and the Evolution of Generic Concepts in Lichenology | Archives of Natural History.” International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/anh.1981.017.
- ^ “Acharius' Lichenographiæ Sueciæ Prodromus.” Uppsala University Library, Uppsala University, Sweden, www.ub.uu.se/finding-your-way-in-the-collections/selections-of-special-items-and-collections/acharius/.
- ^ Acharius, Erik. Synopsis Methodica Lichenum. 1814
- ^ a b Acharius, Erik. Lichenographia Universalis: In Qua Lichenes Omnes Detectos, Adiectis Observationibus Et Figuris Horum Vegetabilium Naturam Et Organorum Carpomorphorum Structuram Illustrantibus, Ad Genera, Species. Gottingae: Apud I. F. Danckwerts, 1810.
- ^ a b Acharius, Erik. Synopsis Methodica Lichenum. 1814.
- ^ “The Linnean Collections.” Correspondence from Acharius, Erik to Smith, Sir James Edward - The Linnean Collections, The Linnean Society, 7 Mar. 2016, linnean-online.org/view/correspondence_by_collection/smith=5Fcorrespondence/Acharius=3AErik=3A=3A/Smith=3A_Sir_James_Edward=3A=3A.html.
- ^ a b Laine, Sanna. “Erik Acharius Lichen Collection.” GBIF, Finnish Museum of Natural History , 8 Jan. 2014, www.gbif.org/dataset/6c781d5f-a189-497b-a78d-5c2d7b41cb6a#description.
- ^ Mitchell, M.E. (2014). "De Bary's legacy: the emergence of differing perspectives on lichen symbiosis" (PDF). Huntia. 15 (1): 5–22 [13].
- ^ Weber, Fried, and Dan Matth. Heinr. Mohr. Naturhistorische Reise Durch Einen Theil Schwedens. 1804.
- ^ Gage, Thomas, University of Chicago. Library. Crerar Ms. 132, and Crerar Manuscript Collection (University of Chicago. Library). A Monograph of the Genus Cenomyce: Consisting of Coloured Drawings of Each Species and Variety, As Described in the Lichenographia Universalis of Acharius. 1815.
- ^ Kärnefelt, and Frödén. “Erik Acharius - the Last of the Linnean Pupils.” Spa and Wellness- Are There Environmental Challenges?, Elsevier Limited, 1 Jan. 1970, lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/744421
- ^ "Acharius Medal". International Association of Lichenology. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- ^ Galloway, David J. (1993). "The Acharius memorial at Vadstena" (PDF). International Lichenological Newsletter. 26 (1): 12–15. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- ^ "Acharia Thunb. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "Rosa acharii Billb. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "Type of Conferva acharii Web. & Mohr [family PARMELIACEAE]". JSTOR Global Plants. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ Nordisk familjebok, vol. 1 (1904), col 96
- ^ "Lichen collections". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ Acharius, Erik. Lichenographiae Svecicae Prodromus. Lincopiae: D. G. Björn, 1798.
- ^ Acharius, Erik. Methodus Qua Omnes Detectos Lichenes: Secundum Organa Carpomorpha, Ad Genera, Species Et Varietates. Stockholmiae: impensis F.D.D. Ulrich, typis C.F. Marquard, 1803.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Ach.
- Monika Myrdal: "Erik Acharius, the father of lichenology", at the website of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. With links to sample images of his publications.
- Rutger Sernander: "Acharius, Erik", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 1, pp. 28–80.
Further reading
- Eriksson, Gunnar (1970). "Acharius, Erik". ISBN 0-684-10114-9.