Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Örnsköldsvik Municipality, Västernorrland County, Sweden
About Peter Artedi
- Peter Artedi or Petrus Arctaedius (27 February 1705 – 28 September 1735) was a Swedish naturalist who is known as the "father of ichthyology". Artedi was born in Anundsjö in the province of Ångermanland.
- Intending to become a clergyman, he went after schooling in Harnosand, in 1724, to study theology at Uppsala University, but he turned his attention to medicine and natural history, especially ichthyology, a science that he influenced greatly.
- In 1728 his countryman Carl Linnaeus arrived in Uppsala, and a lasting friendship was formed between the two from 1729 (as Artedi was away due to the death of his father).
- In 1732 both left Uppsala, Artedi for England, and Linnaeus for Lappland; before parting they reciprocally bequeathed to each other their manuscripts and books in the event of death.In 1734 Artedi visited England, mentioning a meeting with Hans Sloane and a whale in London in November downstream of the London Bridge.
- Artedi left London in summer 1735 and met Linnaeus in Leiden.
- Artedi was short of money and Linnaeus introduced him to Albertus Seba, a wealthy Dutchman, who had formed what was perhaps the richest museum of his time in Amsterdam.
- Seba employed Artedi to write descriptions of fishes for his Thesaurus.On the night of 27 September, while returning from Seba's home to his lodgings, he accidentally fell and drowned in a canal.
- His body was found the next day.
- Linnaeus heard of the death through Claudius Sohlberg two days later and rushed to Amsterdam.
- According to agreement, his manuscripts came into the hands of Linnaeus, and his Bibliotheca Ichthyologica and Philosophia Ichthyologica, together with a life of the author, were published at Leiden in 1738 under the title "Ichthyologia sive opera omnia de piscibus ...".Artedi was buried in a pauper's grave in St Anthony's churchyard in Amsterdam on 2 October 1735.
- His grave was never marked and the churchyard site has since been appropriated for other purposes.
- An epitaph, written in Latin by Anders Celsius, and translated into English by George Shaw, is known because it was inscribed on the back flyleaf of Linnaeus's own copy of "Ichthyologia": Here lies poor Artedi, in foreign land pyx'd Not a man nor a fish, but something betwixt, Not a man, for his life among fishes he past, Not a fish, for he perished by water at last.A memorial stone to Peter Artedi was erected in Amsterdam Zoological Gardens and unveiled on 28 June 1905; it is inscribed in Latin.
- Other stone memorials are in Anundsjö and Nordmaling in Sweden. Linnaeus named Artedia (Apiaceae), a monotypic genus from the eastern Mediterranean, after his friend.
Read more at Wikipedia
See Also
- Famous People's Birthdays on 27 February, Sweden
- Famous People's Birthdays in February, Sweden
- Famous naturalist's Birthdays on 27 February, Sweden
- Famous naturalist's Birthdays in February, Sweden
- Famous zoologist's Birthdays on 27 February, Sweden
- Famous zoologist's Birthdays in February, Sweden
- Famous botanist's Birthdays on 27 February, Sweden
- Famous botanist's Birthdays in February, Sweden