Anders Jahan Retzius (3 October 1742 – 6 October 1821) was a Swedish

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

botanist 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 ...

and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Biography

Born in

Kristianstad Kristianstad ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 41,198 inhabitants in 2023. Since the 1990s, the city has gone from being a garrison town to a developed commercial city, ...

, he matriculated at

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 ...

in 1758, where he graduated as a filosofie magister in 1766. He also trained as an apothecary apprentice. He received the position of

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

of chemistry at Lund in 1766, and of

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

in 1767. He became extraordinary professor of natural history in 1777, and thereafter held various chairs of natural history, economy and chemistry until his retirement in 1812. He died in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on 6 October 1821. He described many new

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

and did fundamental work on their

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

. Retzius 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 ...

in 1782. He was the father of Anders Retzius and grandfather of

Gustaf Retzius Prof Magnus Gustaf (or Gustav) Retzius FRSFor HFRSE MSA (17 October 1842 – 21 July 1919) was a Swedish physician and anatomist who dedicated a large part of his life to researching the histology of the sense organs and nervous system. Lif ...

. Disciples of Anders Jahan Retzius include the botanist

Carl Adolph Agardh Carl Adolph Agardh (23 January 1785 in Båstad, Sweden – 28 January 1859 in Karlstad) was a Swedish botanist specializing in algae, who was eventually appointed bishop of Karlstad. Biography In 1807 he was appointed teacher of mathematics ...

, the zoologist and archaeologist Sven Nilsson, the botanist and entomologist

Carl Fredrik Fallén Carl Fredrik Fallén (born 22 September 1764 in Kristinehamn – 26 August 1830) was a Sweden, Swedish botanist and entomologist. Fallén taught at the Lund University. He wrote ''Diptera Sueciae'' (1814–27). Fallén described very many specie ...

, and the entomologist

Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt (20 May 1785 – 23 December 1874) was a Sweden, Swedish Naturalism (philosophy) , naturalist who worked mainly on Diptera and Hymenoptera. Biography Zetterstedt studied at the Lund University, University of Lund, where ...

. He was also an influence on the botanist

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

who arrived in Lund by the time Retzius was already an old man.

Selected works

*''Primae Lineae pharmaciae : in usum praelectionum Suecico idiomate'' . Dieterich, Gottingae 177
Digital edition
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

*''Inledning till djur-riket : efter herr archiatern och riddaren Carl von Linnés lärogrunder'' (1772) *''Observationes botanicae'' (1778–91) *''Floræ Scandinaviæ prodromus; enumerans: plantas Sveciae, Lapponiae, Finlandiae, Pomeraniae, Daniae, Norvegiae, Holsatiae, Islandiae & Groenlandiae'' ( Holmiæ 1779; 2nd edition (1795) *(edited and revised:)

Charles De Geer Charles De Geer (30 January 1720 – 7 March 1778) was an entomology, entomologist, industrialist, civil servant and book collecting, book collector. He is sometimes referred to as Charles the Entomologist, to distinguish him from other relati ...

, ''Genera et species insectorum, e generosissimi auctoris scriptis extraxit, digessit, quoad portem reddidit, et terminologiam insectorum Linneanam addidit'' (1783) *''Lectiones publicæ de vermibus intestinalibus'' (1784) *''Försök til mineral-rikets upställning.'' (1795) *(edited and revised:)

Carl 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 ...

, ''Faunae Svecicae a C à Linné inchoatae pars prima sistens mammalia, aves, amphibia et pisces Sueciae quam recognovit, emendavit et auxit'' (1800). *''Försök til en Flora Oeconomica Sveciae, eller swenska wäxters nytta och skada i hushållningen'' (1806–07)

References

*Gunnar Eriksson, "Retzius, Anders Jahan", ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', vol. 30 (1998-2000). {{DEFAULTSORT:Retzius, Anders Jahan 18th-century Swedish botanists Swedish taxonomists 18th-century Swedish zoologists 1742 births 1821 deaths 18th-century Swedish chemists Swedish entomologists Swedish mineralogists Swedish mycologists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences People connected to Lund University Lund University alumni 19th-century Swedish botanists 19th-century Swedish chemists 19th-century Swedish zoologists 19th-century Swedish scientists People from Kristianstad