Carl Johan Fredrik Skottsberg (1 December 1880 – 14 June 1963) was a Swedish

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 explorer of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Life

Skottsberg was born in

Karlshamn Karlshamn () is a locality and the seat of Karlshamn Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden. It had 13,576 inhabitants in 2015, out of 31,846 in the municipality. Karlshamn received a Royal Charter and city privileges in 1664, when King Charles ...

on 1 December 1880 the son of Carl Adolf Skottsberg a schoolmaster and his wife, Maria Louisa Pfeiffer. He was educated locally then studied Sciences 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 ...

from 1898, specialising in Botany, and receiving his doctorate (PhD) there in 1907. From 1901 to 1903 Skottsberg served as official botanist to the

Swedish Antarctic Expedition The Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903 was a scientific expedition led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen. It was the first Swedish endeavour to Antarctica in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Background Otto Nordensk ...

of 1901 to 1903 on the ship ''

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

''. On his return to Sweden, Skottsberg published (1905) the first comprehensive phytogeographic study of the flora of southern Patagonia and

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

. Later he led the Swedish Magellanic Expedition to

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, 1907 to 1909. Carl Skottsberg is believed to have been the last to have seen the

Santalum fernandezianum ''Santalum fernandezianum'', also known as the Chile sandalwood, was a species of plant in the Santalaceae family. It was endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile. Last seen in 1908 by Carl Skottsberg, the species was cut to ...

tree alive when he visited the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...

in 1908. He was conservator at the Uppsala University Botanical Museum 1909 to 1914, but led the work on the new Botanical Garden in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

from 1915, and was appointed professor and director of the garden there,

Göteborg Botanical Garden The Gothenburg Botanical Garden () is located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is one of the larger botanical gardens in Europe. History The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is situated in a formerly completely rural area, where earlier a great country e ...

, in 1919. In 1909, he married Inga Margareta Reuter. Skottsberg was 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 several other Swedish learned societies, and was elected a Fellow 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 ...

in 1950. That same year he presided the 7th International Botanical Congress. He was awarded the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

's Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1958 and the

Linnean Medal The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and ...

in 1959. He is buried at Östra kyrkogården in

Publications

*''The Wilds of

'' (1919) *''Remarks on the Hawaiian Flora'' (1939) *''Observations on Hawaiian Violets'' (1940) *''Communities of Marine algae'' (1941) *''Botanical Survey of the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

'' *''The Natural History of Juan Fernandez and

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

'' *''Meddelanden'' (1963)

Honours

Several taxa have been named in his honour; * '' Skottsbergia'' (genus of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

Ditrichaceae Ditrichaceae is a family of haplolepideous mosses in subclass Dicranidae. The family was previously place in order Dicranales Dicranales is an order of haplolepideous mosses in the subclass Dicranidae The Dicranidae are a widespread and d ...

family), * '' Skottsbergiella'' (genus of

Fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

Gnomoniaceae Gnomoniaceae is a family of fungi in the order Diaporthales. The family was circumscribed by German botanist Heinrich Georg Winter in 1886. Genera As accepted by GBIF: * '' Alnecium'' (2) * '' Ambarignomonia'' (2) * '' Anisogramma'' (6) * ...

family), * ''Skottsbergiella'' (genus of

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...

) a synonym of ''

Cuminia ''Cuminia'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, first described in 1835. It contains only one known species, ''Cuminia eriantha''. It is endemic to Robinson Crusoe Island, one of the Juan Fernández Islands in the southeast Pac ...

'' , * ''Skottsbergiliana'' (a genus of

Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae (), also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family (biology), family consisting of about 965 species in 101 genera.

), now a synonym of ''

Sicyos ''Sicyos'' is a flowering plant genus of the family Cucurbitaceae. Members of the genus may be known as "burr cucumbers", but the genus includes '' Sicyos edulis'' which is the christophine or chayote. Species ''Plants of the World Online'' inc ...

'', * ''Skottsbergiella'' (genus of

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

), now a synonym of '' Xerodraba'' , * ''Skottsbergianthus'' (genus of Brassicaceae), now a synonym of ''Xerodraba'',

Botanical Reference

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skottsberg, Carl 20th-century Swedish botanists Botanists active in Antarctica Swedish explorers of Antarctica Uppsala University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 1880 births 1963 deaths People from Karlshamn Explorers of Chile Fellows of the Royal Society Phytogeographers