Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the taxonomy of and is known as the "father of lichenology". Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus.
Life
Acharius was born in 1757 to Johan Eric Acharius and Catharina Margaretha Hagtorn in Gävle.
[Sernander., K. “Erik Acharius - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon.” Fredrik Teodor Borg - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=5503.] He received a private education until he was admitted to Gävle Gymnasium in 1770.
Later he matriculated at Uppsala University in 1773 where he studied natural history and medicine under Linnaeus and was the last student to defend a dissertation before him.
[Thell, A., Kärnefelt, I., Seaward, M., & Westberg, M. (Eds.) (2013). In the footsteps of Erik Acharius. 20th biennial meeting of the Nordic Lichen Society. Vadstena 11–15 August 2013. Programme and Abstracts. Nordic Lichen Society.] Acharius's dissertation titled,
Planta Aphyteia, was on a
vascular plant species (
Hydnora) collected in Southern Africa by Carl Peter Thunberg, which Linnaeus incorrectly classified as fungi. Thus he is known as "Carl Linnaeus last disciple" or the last pupil of Linnaeus. After graduating from Uppsala in 1776, he later worked for the Royal Academy of Sciences in
Stockholm and completed his medical studies at
Lund University in 1782.
[Hofberg, Herman, et al. “Acharius, Erik (Svenskt Biografiskt Handlexikon).” Acharius, Erik, Project Runeberg, 24 Mar. 1997, runeberg.org/sbh/achareri.html.] He was appointed town medical officer in
Vadstena in 1785, district medical officer in Östergötland County in 1789, director of the new
Vadstena Hospital (which he had initiated) in 1795, and titular professor in 1803.
[“Erik Acharius.” The Mushroom Journal, www.mushroomthejournal.com/greatlakesdata/Authors/Acharius601.html.] As a cartoonist, Acharius Johan illustrated Peter Westring's work
Svenska lafvarne color history (1805) and Carl Peter Thunberg's
Flora Capensis.
In 1787 Erik Acharius married Helena Dorotea Scholander (1762–1804), the daughter of a trader, in Landskrona. After Helena's death Acharius married Margareta Maria Hoffberg on 31 December 1804. She was the daughter of Gottfrid Hoffberg who was in charge of production of saltpeter for munitions in Skänninge.[“Erik Acharius.” Ilse Luise Ledermann-Citroen - Biographical Summaries of Notable People - MyHeritage, MyHeritage, www.myheritage.com/names/erik_acharius.]
Acharius spent the remainder of his life in Vadstena, where he died of a stroke while in his household garden examining a Spanish collection of lichens on 14 August 1819, at the age of 61.
Work in lichenology
Acharius belonged to the younger generations of Swedish botanists who continued what Linnaeus had left undone; classifying all living organisms. Acharius began the taxonomic classification of
Lichenes and during his lifetime he classified over 3300 species of lichen separated into 40 different genera.
[Anderberg, Arne. “Erik Acharius, the Father of Lichenology.” Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet - Startsida, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, 7 Nov. 2014, www.nrm.se/en/forskningochsamlingar/botanik/botaniskhistoria/erikacharius.310.html.] At the time of Linnaeus's death all lichens were grouped into a single genus, thus Acharius was the first to expand lichen classification into the multi-divisional group of organisms it is known to be today.
[Frödén, Patrik. “Lichenology in Lund – an Historical Overview | The Lichenologist.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 6 Aug. 2009, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/lichenologist/article/lichenology-in-lund-an-historical-overview/12AD4A9CCFD0292CC73E7C3A17B8964D.] His first publication was
Lichenographiae Suecia prodromus, published in 1798, which detailed all known lichen species found in Sweden. This was the first published work to detail lichens using binomial nomenclature and expand their classification beyond a single genus. While composing
Lichenographiae Suecia prodromus, Acharius began communicating with
Olof Swartz, another Linnaean disciple, and from 1780 to 1815 they sent nearly 350 letters to each other.
Swartz is believed by many historians to have heavily influenced the development of Acharius's classification system.
[“Erik Acharius, Olof Swartz and the Evolution of Generic Concepts in Lichenology | Archives of Natural History.” International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/anh.1981.017.] Additionally, Swartz introduced Acharius to many other Swedish naturalists as also several important international figures such as James Edward Smith, the head of the
Linnean Society. This exposure aided Acharius in spreading his new findings on lichens to an international audience. After publishing his first work, he sent a copy to James Edward Smith who, in response, inducted Acharius as a foreign member of the Linnean Society.
[“Acharius' Lichenographiæ Sueciæ Prodromus.” Uppsala University Library, Uppsala University, Sweden, www.ub.uu.se/finding-your-way-in-the-collections/selections-of-special-items-and-collections/acharius/.] Subsequently, Acharius published
Methodus qua omnes detectos lichenes (1803),
[Acharius, Erik. Synopsis Methodica Lichenum. 1814] Lichenographia universalis (1810),
[Acharius, Erik. Lichenographia Universalis: In Qua Lichenes Omnes Detectos, Adiectis Observationibus Et Figuris Horum Vegetabilium Naturam Et Organorum Carpomorphorum Structuram Illustrantibus, Ad Genera, Species. Gottingae: Apud I. F. Danckwerts, 1810.] and
Synopsis methodica lichenum (1814)
[Acharius, Erik. Synopsis Methodica Lichenum. 1814.] each of which he sent to the Society in London, accompanied by hundreds of the specimens described in each book.
[“The Linnean Collections.” Correspondence from Acharius, Erik to Smith, Sir James Edward - The Linnean Collections, The Linnean Society, 7 Mar. 2016, linnean-online.org/view/correspondence_by_collection/smith=5Fcorrespondence/Acharius=3AErik=3A=3A/Smith=3A_Sir_James_Edward=3A=3A.html.] Over his lifetime Acharius collected over 5500 specimens of lichen most of which are housed today in the Botanical Museum of the Finnish Museum of Natural History.
[Laine, Sanna. “Erik Acharius Lichen Collection.” GBIF, Finnish Museum of Natural History, 8 Jan. 2014, www.gbif.org/dataset/6c781d5f-a189-497b-a78d-5c2d7b41cb6a#description.]
In his influential works, Acharius introduced many lichen-related terminology that remain in common use today. Starting with designating the pits on the underside of Sticta lichens as in 1794, he added the terms , , , , , and in 1803; in 1810; and in 1817.
Legacy
Acharius's international reputation influence many new lichenologist from all over Europe. In 1804 Friedrich Weber (1781–1823) and Daniel Matthias Heinrich Mohr (1780–1808), two German naturalists, published
Naturhistorische Reise durch einen Theil Schwedens which heavily featured his work on lichens and also included four illustrations by Acharius.
[Weber, Fried, and Dan Matth. Heinr. Mohr. Naturhistorische Reise Durch Einen Theil Schwedens. 1804.] Furthermore,
William Borrer who pioneered lichenology in Britain (and is often called the father of British lichenology) was heavily influence by Acharius's specimens and publications received by the Linnean society in London. These collections and books were studied by Borrer in 1809 and served as the basis for his own work.
Additionally Thomas Gage published
A Monograph of the Genus Cenomyce: Consisting of Coloured Drawings of Each Species and Variety, As Described in the Lichenographia Universalis of Acharius in 1815, which contained illustrations of every species and variation of the genus
Cenomyce as described in
Lichenographia universalis.
[Gage, Thomas, University of Chicago. Library. Crerar Ms. 132, and Crerar Manuscript Collection (University of Chicago. Library). A Monograph of the Genus Cenomyce: Consisting of Coloured Drawings of Each Species and Variety, As Described in the Lichenographia Universalis of Acharius. 1815.] To this day several of Acharius's original classification schema are still used in
lichen taxonomy.
[Kärnefelt, and Frödén. “Erik Acharius - the Last of the Linnean Pupils.” Spa and Wellness- Are There Environmental Challenges?, Elsevier Limited, 1 Jan. 1970, lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/744421] The International Association for Lichenology has named its medal for lifetime achievement in
lichenology the
Acharius Medal after him.
and also in 1992 installed a commemorative plaque on the house in Vadstena where he lived for many years.
Publications and honors
He was a member of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund (1795), the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1796), the Linnean Society of London (1801), appointed Knight of the Order of Vasa (1809), and the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala (1810).
The plant genus Acharia (in 1794,[ Nordisk familjebok, vol. 1 (1904), col 96]
The collections of Acharius are distributed over several : the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki, which holds the Botanical Museum in Uppsala, the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Botanical Museum in Lund. His papers are in the Library of Uppsala University.
The following is a list of Erik Acharius's publications:
Lichenographiae svecicae Prodromus (Beginning of a Lichenography of Sweden) 1798[Acharius, Erik. Lichenographiae Svecicae Prodromus. Lincopiae: D. G. Björn, 1798.]
Methodus qua omnes detectos Lichenes (A Method by which Everyone Can Identify Lichens) 1803[Acharius, Erik. Methodus Qua Omnes Detectos Lichenes: Secundum Organa Carpomorpha, Ad Genera, Species Et Varietates. Stockholmiae: impensis F.D.D. Ulrich, typis C.F. Marquard, 1803.]
Lichenographia universalis (A Universal Lichenography) 1810
Synopsis methodica Lichenum (Taxonomical Arrangement of Lichens) 1814
See also
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Monika Myrdal: "Erik Acharius, the father of lichenology", at the website of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. With links to sample images of his publications.
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Rutger Sernander: "Acharius, Erik", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 1, pp. 28–80.
Further reading
