Detail author

LINNE Karl (Linnaeus) - Sweden - 1707 - 1778

LINNE Karl (Linnaeus) Linnè was born in Sinalend, Sweden. Having a great passion for medicine and the natural sciences, he studied at the University of Uppsala and furthered his herbal knowledge in Leiden. At Uppsala he was named Professor of Botany and his dynamic character led him to direct research explorations in Lapland and other European regions.

Main work: Genera plantarum, Magdeburgo, apud Kummel , 1752.

Botanical interests: Linnè introduced a fundamental reform in the history of descriptive natural history, taking an interest in the systematic classification of the three natural kingdoms and introducing for plants his innovative sexual system. In 1753 he presented the historical binomial system in Latin: the first name indicates the genus, the second the species. There were twelve editions of his Sistema Naturae and they constitute a fundamental and universally recognized basis for botanical studies. No naturalist has had up until our own times a greater influence than Linnaeus in the field of systematic descriptive botany. His principal works are: Sistema Naturae, Species Plantarum (1753), Genera Plantarum (1752), Dissertatio botanica (1745), Sistema plantarum (1779).