Olof Rudbeck the Younger or Olaus Rudbeckius d.y. (15 March 1660 – 23 March 1740) was a Swedish explorer, scientist,

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 ...

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and rector of

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 ...

Biography

Olof Rudbeck was born 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 ...

, Sweden, the son of Olaus Rudbeck Sr. (1630–1702), a professor of medicine at

. He travelled to England, Holland and Germany in 1687 to study botany. Rudbeck took a medical degree at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

in 1690. Returning to his home country in 1692, he succeeded his father as professor of medicine at

. Serving alongside Lars Roberg (1664–1742), he specialized in anatomy, botany, zoology, and pharmacology, while Roberg gave lectures in medicine, surgery, physiology and chemistry. He travelled to Lapland in 1695, joining an expedition commissioned by the King

Charles XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl (; ) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of History of Sweden, Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden ...

(1655–1697), for which his mission was to study nature, the mountainous region in particular. He returned and published ''Lapponia illustrata'', an album of beautifully colored pictures of birds, flowers and scenery, for which he is best remembered. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Rudbeck turned his attention away from nature studies to speculation about the relationship between

Sami languages Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

to Finnish and Hungarian. To honour his accomplishments (and posthumously, those of his namesake father), he was

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...

in 1719 by Queen

Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor (23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741), also known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of Frederick, her husband. Upon h ...

(1688–1741), as a "naturalized nobleman" (noble family of Rudbeck, nr. 1637). His student, the botanist

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 ...

(1707–1778), named a genus of flowers '' Rudbeckia'' in honor of him and his father. Rudbeck helped his father with his botanical work, ''Campi elysii,'' including making woodblocks for the life-sized woodcut illustrations of many of the species were included in the two volumes that were published, together with his father Olof, his two sisters, Johanna Christina and Wendela, and other colleagues. It is thought that about 3,200 woodblocks were cut for the series, and those remaining today (about 140 from volume 1) are housed at 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 ...

. The plant genus '' Rudbeckia'' was named by Linnaeus in honor of both Rudbeck and his son.

Personal life

Rudbeck was married three times. Rudbeck had 24 children with three wives. His sister, Wendela, married Peter Olai Nobelius, and from them descends the

Nobel family The Nobel family ( ), is a prominent Swedish family closely related to the history both of Sweden and of Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its legacy includes its outstanding contributions to philanthropy and to the development of the ar ...

, including

Ludvig Nobel Ludvig Immanuel Nobel ( ; ; ; 27 July 1831 – 12 April 1888) was a Swedish-Russian engineer, a noted businessman and a humanitarian. One of the most prominent members of the Nobel family, he was the son of Immanuel Nobel (also an engineering pi ...

, founder of

Branobel The Petroleum Production Company Nobel Brothers, Limited, or Branobel (short for братьев Нобель "brat'yev Nobel" – "Nobel Brothers" in Russian), was an oil company set up by Ludvig Nobel and Baron Peter von Bilderling. It operat ...

and

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also m ...

, founder of the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

References

Other sources

*Krook, Hans (1988) ''Olof Rudbeck d.y:s Svenska fåglar '' (Stockholm : Coeckelberghs)

External links

*
Olof Rudbeck ''Lapponia illustrata''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudbeck, Olof, the Younger Rudbeck, Olaus junior Rudbeck, Olaus junior Rudbeck, Olof junior Rudbeck, Olof junior Rudbeck, Olof junior Rudbeck, Olof junior Rudbeck, Olof junior Rudbeck, Olaus junior Rudbeck, Olaus junior Rudbeck, Olaus junior Rudbeck, Olaus junior Rudbeck, Olof junior 17th-century Swedish educators Woodcut designers