Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

and botanist. He is sometimes called the "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and lichen species, many of which remain authoritative today.

Career

Fries was born at Femsjö ( Hylte Municipality),

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in

Växjö Växjö () is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 71,282 inhabitants (2020) out of a Municipalities of Sweden, municipal population of 97,349 (2024). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial ce ...

. He acquired an extensive knowledge of flowering plants from his father. In 1811 Fries entered

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

where he studied under Carl Adolph Agardh and Anders Jahan Retzius. He obtained his doctorate in 1814. In the same year he was appointed an associate professorship in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Fries edited several

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

series, the first starting in 1818 under the title ''Lichenes Sveciae exsiccati, curante Elia Fries'' and the last together with Franz Joseph Lagger under the title ''Hieracia europaea exsiccata''. He was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

, and in 1824, became a full

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

. In 1834 he became Borgström professor (Swed. ''Borgströmianska professuren'', a chair endowed by Erik Eriksson Borgström, 1708–1770) in applied economics at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

. The position was changed to "professor of botany and applied economics" in 1851. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1849. That year he was also appointed director of the Uppsala University Botanical Garden. In 1853, he became rector of the University. Fries most important works were the three-volume ''

Systema mycologicum Systema Mycologicum is a systematic classification of fungi drawn up in 1821 by the Swedish mycologist and botanist Elias Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is some ...

'' (1821–1832), ''Elenchus fungorum'' (1828), the two-volume ''Monographia hymenomycetum Sueciae'' (1857 and 1863) and ''Hymenomycetes Europaei'' (1874). Fries is considered to be, after

Christian Hendrik Persoon Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (31 December 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a Cape Colony mycologist who is recognized as one of the founders of mycology, mycological Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. Early life Persoon was born in Cape Colony at ...

, a founding father of the modern

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s. His taxonomy of mushrooms was influenced by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

and the German romantics. He utilized

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

color and arrangement of the

hymenophore A hymenophore refers to the hymenium-bearing structure of a fungal fruiting body. Hymenophores can be smooth surfaces, lamellae, folds, tubes, or teeth. The term was coined by Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an ...

(pores, gills, teeth etc.) as major taxonomic characteristics. He was one of the most prolific authors of new fungal species, having formally described 3210 in his career. Fries died in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

on 8 February 1878. When he died, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' commented: "His very numerous works, especially on fungi and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s, give him a position as regards those groups of plants comparable only to that of

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

." Fries was succeeded in the Borgström professorship (from 1859 to 1876) by

Johan Erhard Areschoug Johan Erhard Areschoug (Johannes Erhard Areschoug, Philos. Doctor, Botanices et Oeconomiae) (16 September 1811 – 7 May 1887) was a Swedish botanist who was a native of Gothenburg. He was a member of the :sv:Arreskow (släkt), Arreskow family (in ...

, after whom Theodor Magnus Fries, the son of Elias, held the chair (from 1877 to 1899).

Publications

*''Monographia Pyrenomycetum Sueciae'' (1816) *''Systema Mycologicum'' (1821) *''Systema Orbis Vegetabilis'' (1825) *''Elenchus Fungorem'' (1828) *''Lichenographia Europaea Reformata'' (1831) *''Epicrisis Systematis Mycologici: seu synopsis hymenomycetum'' (1838)

Botanical reference

Family

His wife was Christina Wieslander (1808–1862), with whom he raised nine children. His son Theodor Magnus Fries became a botanist and lichenologist, eventually holding the Borgström professorship himself, and another son, Oscar Robert Fries, became a physician in Gothenburg while maintaining a keen interest in mycology. Theodor "Thore" Magnus's sons Thore Christian Elias Fries and Robert Elias Fries also became botanists.

References

External links