Sara Elisabeth "Sara Lisa" von Linné (née Moræa; 26 April 1716 – 20 April 1806) was a Swedish woman who was married to
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 ...
and was mother to
Carl Linnaeus the Younger
Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carolus Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné den yngre ( Swedish; abbreviated Carl von Linné d. y.), or ''Linnaeus filius'' (Latin for ''Linnaeus the son''; abbreviated L.fil. (outdated) or L.f. (modern) as a botani ...
and
Elisabeth Christina von Linné
Elisabeth Christina von Linné (June 14, 1743 – April 15, 1782) was a Swedish botanist, daughter of Carl Linnaeus and Sara Elisabeth Moræa. She was involved in the creation of 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 ...
through the auctioning of her late husband's scientific papers. She is one of the historic Swedish women who have streets named after her in the Kärringstan district of
Enskededalen
Enskededalen is a district () in Skarpnäck borough, Stockholm, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and ...
, Stockholm ().
Biography
Sara Elisabeth Moræa was born in
Falun
Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabit ...
, Sweden, in 1716, the daughter of (1672–1742; a physician at
Falun mine
Falun Mine () was a mine in Falun, Sweden, that operated for a millennium from the 10th century to 1992. It produced as much as two-thirds of Europe's copper needs and helped fund many of Sweden's wars in the 17th century. Technological developme ...
) and his wife Elisabeth Hansdotter (1691–1769). Her parents had a total of seven children. Both her parents came from the wealthy
bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...
and she grew up on outside Falun. She attended school and received a formal education.
In February 1735,
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 ...
proposed to Sara Elisabeth when he was travelling through
Dalarna
Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...
. Her father accepted the proposal on the condition that Carl would travel abroad before his marriage and take his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
so that he could support his family.
Carl went to the Netherlands, and during the time Sara Elisabeth was engaged, she lived a good life with many parties and among friends in the bourgeoisie of Falun. This period of her life is preserved in the diaries of friends and acquaintances.
In 1738, Carl Linnaeus returned to Sweden and went to Falun to formalize his engagement to Sara Elisabeth. He then went to Stockholm to take up employment as a doctor, leaving Sara Elisabeth behind again. He did not fare well as a doctor in the capital, but through
Carl Gustav Tessin
Count Carl Gustaf Tessin (5 September 1695 – 7 January 1770) was a Swedish Count and politician and son of architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock. He was one of the most brilliant personages of his day, and the mo ...
, a
Lord Marshal Lord Marshal may refer to one of the following
*Lord Marshal of England
*Earl Marischal
* Lord Marshal (Sweden) (Swedish: ''Lantmarskalk'') was in Sweden before 1866 the presiding officer for the nobles in the Riksdag of the Estates
** That title ...
and leader of the Hats Party, he gained employment as a lecturer at Bergs Collegio and later as Admiralty Medicus through Admiral . During this time he also helped found 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 ...
. After that, in the spring of 1739, his finances had improved enough that he was able to return to Dalarna and marry Sara Elisabeth. They were married on 26 June in what is now known as ('Linnaeus' wedding cottage'), a cottage on Svedens gård.
The marriage is believed to have been a happy one, despite contemporary and recent descriptions of Sara Elisabeth as cantankerous. Her husband's own words, however, are consistently positive, and he wrote in notes intended for their children that God "gave him the wife he most desired, and who kept house while he worked". He wrote this after 27 years of marriage. According to his notes in ''Nemesis Divina'', it also appears that they shared a bed at Hammarby and through letters sent by Carl Linnaeus to his friend
Abraham Bäck
Abraham Bäck (9 December 1713 – 21 May 1795) was a Swedish physician who is considered an important reformer of Swedish medical training and the organisation of Swedish medical practice.
Biography
Bäck commenced his studies at Uppsala Uni ...
that they were still kissing when they reunited after Carl Linnaeus' many trips after 20 years of marriage. Together they had seven children, five of whom (a son and four daughters) survived to adulthood.
In 1758, Carl Linnaeus bought the Hammarby estate (today
Linnaeus's Hammarby
Linnaeus's Hammarby () is a historic house museum and mansion, and one of three botanical gardens belonging to Uppsala University, located in Sweden. It is situated about 10 km south-east of Uppsala.
Carl Linnaeus
The manor house Hammarby ...
) as his family's summer residence. After her husband's death in 1778, Sara Elisabeth ruled the estate for 30 years until her own death. She was not alone, however, because at the time of her husband's death all five of her children were living at home with them. The only child to marry and move out, Elisabeth Christina, had moved back home with her daughter a few years earlier because her husband had abused her. Carl and Sara Elisabeth wrote their son-in-law out of their wills because of how badly he had treated their eldest daughter and only grandchild.
The eldest children,
Carl Linnaeus the Younger
Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carolus Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné den yngre ( Swedish; abbreviated Carl von Linné d. y.), or ''Linnaeus filius'' (Latin for ''Linnaeus the son''; abbreviated L.fil. (outdated) or L.f. (modern) as a botani ...
and Elisabeth Christina, died a few years after their father. The youngest, Sofia, married in 1781 and moved out. married 13 years later and moved away with her. Her daughter Lovisa, however, lived with her mother until her mother died.
When her son Carl Linnaeus the Younger died in 1783, Sara Elisabeth inherited her husband's many books, manuscripts, herbariums and correspondence. Due to financial problems, she was forced to sell most of them. According to the instructions in Carl Linnaeus' will, they were to be sold to the highest bidder, which was the Englishman James Edward Smith, who on this basis became one of the founders of 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 ...
.
Sara Elisabeth Moraea died 20 April 1806 in Uppsala. She is buried along with her husband and son Carl in
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...
.
Personality
Sara Elisabeth has been described condescendingly both by her contemporaries and recent scholars who have written about her husband, mostly based on three quotes from Carl Linnaeus' young male students.
Johan Christian Fabricius
Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...
, aged 17, described the then 47-year-old Sara Elisabeth as "a big, strong woman, domineering, selfish and completely without culture".
Johann Beckmann
Johann Beckmann (1739–1811) was a German scientific author and coiner of the word technology, to mean the science of trades. He was the first man to teach technology and write about it as an academic subject.
Life
He was born on 4 June 1739 at ...
considered her terribly rude for allegedly saying that it was not worth learning German just for the sake of a student.
Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm
Baron Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm (7 July 1756 in Sjundeå, Nyland, Sweden (now Finland) – 27 December 1813 in Schleswig), was a Swedish statesman. He acted as the de facto regent of Sweden during the minor regency of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden ...
complained about having to spend time with Carl Linnaeus's "cross old wife" when neither Carl Linnaeus nor his daughters were at home. Reuterholm was 17 at the time and Sara Elisabeth was 57.
She seems to have been a strong-willed woman with poise, who managed the large household and organized the upkeep of the grounds for her husband and all his students. She continued to do this while living as a widow at Linnaeus's Hammarby. She also seems to have been interested in botany, but more in an everyday way (growing and harvesting kitchen plants, knowing what to live on in the woods and fields, making cloth from flax, weeding, canning berries and fruits, storing root vegetables, etc.) and not in a scientific way. She is said to have had good insight into economic and practical matters, but at the same time it is said that her husband was worried every time she went down to Stockholm to buy fabric.
Sara Elisabeth and Carl Linnaeus are said to have had a happy marriage, according to Carl's own notes. However, she disagreed with her husband about not allowing their daughters to attend school. When Carl was away on business, she took matters into her own hands and put their youngest daughter, Sofia, in school. When he returned, he went straight to the school and brought his daughter home again.
Children
Their children were as follows;
*
Carl Linnaeus the Younger
Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carolus Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné den yngre ( Swedish; abbreviated Carl von Linné d. y.), or ''Linnaeus filius'' (Latin for ''Linnaeus the son''; abbreviated L.fil. (outdated) or L.f. (modern) as a botani ...
(1741–1783)
* Elisabeth Christina Von Linné (1743–1782)
* Sara Magdalena (''Sara Christina Von Linné'') (1744–1744)
* Lovisa Von Linné (1749–1839)
* (1751–1835)
* Johannes Von Linné (1754–1757)
* Sofia Von Linné (1757–1830)
In popular culture
* Sara Elisabeth and her husband are the main characters in the comic book by Maria Bergström and Niklas Jönsson
*