Andreas (Anders) Berlin (20 May 1746 – 12 June 1773) was a Swedish

naturalist 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 ...

, one of the "

apostles of Linnaeus The Apostles of Linnaeus were a group of students who carried out botanical and zoological expeditions throughout the world that were either devised or approved by botanist Carl Linnaeus. The expeditions took place during the latter half of the 1 ...

", though not among the more successful. The son of Henrik Berlin (1704–1781) and his wife Anna Catharina Hellström (1711–1799), Berlin matriculated 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 ...

13 February 1765 and studied there with

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 ...

in 1767-68 and with professor of medicine Jonas Sidrén in 1768–1769, before travelling to London with a Stiegler fellowship, to find a botanical expedition he could join. In the meantime he assisted Sir

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

and Banks's assistant

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Sweden, Swedish naturalist and an Apostles of Linnaeus, apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot o ...

, another of Linnaeus' "apostles". In 1773 Berlin travelled to

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

with the English botanist

Henry Smeathman Henry Smeathman (1742–1786) was an English naturalist, best known for his work in entomology and colonial settlement in Sierra Leone. In 1771 the Quaker physician John Fothergill, along with two other members of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph ...

. The purpose of the expedition, which was sponsored by members of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, was to explore the central parts of West Africa but prior to reaching the mainland, Berlin died of a stomach illness while on the

Îles de Los The Îles de Los () are an island group lying off Conakry, Guinea, on the west coast of Africa. Their name is derived from the Portuguese ''Ilhas dos Ídolos'', meaning "islands of the idols". They are located about off the headland limiting t ...

. Before his death, Berlin managed to send a few plants to Linnaeus.Fagerstedt, Otto; Sörlin, Sverker (2004). ''Linné och hans apostlar'' (Örebro:

Natur & Kultur Natur & Kultur is a Swedish publishing foundation with its head office in Stockholm. It is known for an extensive series of teaching materials, and its logotype is an apple tree. Overview The publishing house was founded in 1922 by Johan H ...

). pp. 10–13 .

References

1746 births 1773 deaths Swedish naturalists 18th-century Swedish botanists Uppsala University alumni Age of Liberty people {{Sweden-botanist-stub