Bengt Lidforss (15 September 186823 September 1913) was a prominent Swedish botanist,

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, and an accomplished

natural scientist Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Biography

Lidforss was born in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

, Sweden, the son of professor and philologist Edvard Lidforss. He studied at the Cathedral School before going to study

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 ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

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 ...

under Frederic Areschoug and received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

at nineteen. He studied speciation in the blackberry (''Rubus'' sp.). In 1892 he spent some time at the University of Tübingen under Albrecht Zimmermann. For his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from Lund University he studied elaiospheres in the mesophyll. He noted that the plants that remain green in winter in southern Sweden had little starch in the leaves during winter. They instead had oil or sugars which prevented injury to the cells from freezing. With a Battram travel scholarship he went to Germany and spent some time in Berlin. Here he joined the Scandinavian circle around

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

. He then went to Leipzig, working with

Wilhelm Pfeffer Wilhelm Friedrich Philipp Pfeffer (9 March 1845 – 31 January 1920) was a German botanist and plant physiology, plant physiologist born in Grebenstein. Academic career He studied chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Göttingen, where hi ...

. After working as an assistant of Ernst Stahl at the University of Jena, he became a professor of botany 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 ...

in 1909 and at Lund University in 1910. He was among the first Swedish scientists to write

popular science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

. Lidforss was born in a conservative family but developed a strong stance against

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

. He published articles in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

-based social democrat newspaper ''

Arbetet ''Arbetet'' () was a Swedish-language social democrat newspaper published in Malmö, Sweden, from 1887 to 2000. History and profile ''Arbetet'' was first published in Malmö on 6 August 1887. Axel Danielsson was the founder and served as the e ...

'' and also, served as its editor-in-chief. Lidforss was influenced by Strindberg into writing, and was one of the first intellectuals in Sweden to become a

; he was also a pessimist on

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. He was known to be bisexual. He was a race mystic who introduced Darwinian ideas which he called as Proletarian anthropology. The Swedish labour movement was noted as anti-Semitical in that they looked upon Jews as capitalist. Lidforss also noted that Jewish culture was distinct and not native in its essence. Lidforss suffered from syphilis from an early age and in 1913 he was diagnosed with

syphilitic aortitis Syphilitic aortitis is inflammation of the aorta associated with the tertiary stage of syphilis infection. SA begins as inflammation of the outermost layer of the blood vessel, including the blood vessels that supply the aorta itself with blood ...

which led to his death.

Botany

References

External links

Kristendomen förr och nu
(1911, Christianity then and now) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lidforss, Bengt Swedish male writers Swedish socialists Swedish anti-capitalists 20th-century Swedish botanists Swedish biologists People from Lund Swedish scientists Swedish LGBTQ scientists Swedish LGBTQ writers Swedish bisexual men 1913 deaths 1868 births Bisexual male writers Bisexual scientists