Peter Forsskål facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter Forsskål
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| Born | 11 January 1732 |
| Died | 11 July 1763 (aged 31) Yarim, Yemen
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| Nationality | Swedish |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | exploration, orientalism and natural history |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Forssk. |
Peter Forsskål (born January 11, 1732 – died July 11, 1763) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish explorer and scientist. He studied nature and ancient cultures. He was also a student of the famous Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus. Sometimes his name is spelled Pehr Forsskål or Petrus Forskål.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Peter Forsskål was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1732. At that time, Finland was part of Sweden. His father, Johannes, was a church leader. In 1741, his family moved to Sweden.
Peter started studying at Uppsala University when he was very young, in 1742. He later returned to the university in 1751. There, he earned a degree in theology, which is the study of religion.
A Student of Linnaeus
At Uppsala, Forsskål became one of the students of Carl Linnaeus. Linnaeus was a very famous scientist who created the system for naming plants and animals. Forsskål also studied ancient languages and cultures.
In 1753, Forsskål traveled to the University of Göttingen in Germany. He continued to study ancient languages and philosophy there. He earned a special degree called a doctorate in 1756.
After returning to Uppsala in 1756, he wanted to study economics.
Thoughts on Freedom
In 1759, Peter Forsskål wrote a political essay. It was called Tankar om borgerliga friheten, which means "Thoughts on civil liberty." In this essay, he strongly supported complete freedom of the press. This meant people should be able to print anything they wanted without the government stopping them.
At the time, this idea was very controversial. The government quickly stopped the essay from being published on the same day it came out. Forsskål was warned by the authorities because of his bold ideas.
Journey to Arabia and Death
In 1760, Forsskål was chosen to join an important expedition to Arabia. This trip was organized by the King of Denmark. Other members included the mathematician Carsten Niebuhr.
The group first went to Egypt and stayed there for about a year. Forsskål spent his time studying different types of Arabic language. At the end of 1762, they arrived in South Arabia, which is now Yemen.
Forsskål worked very hard collecting plants and animals. He was only 31 years old. Sadly, he became sick with malaria and died in July 1763. He was buried in Yarim, Yemen.
Linnaeus was very sad about his student's death. He named a plant that Forsskål had sent home Forsskaolea tenacissima. He chose this name because the plant was tough and persistent, just like Peter Forsskål had been.
Peter Forsskål's Legacy
Carsten Niebuhr was the only person from the expedition who survived. He was given the job of organizing Forsskål's writings. In 1775, Niebuhr published a book called Descriptiones Animalium. This book described the animals Forsskål had observed during his journey.
In the same year, another book was published about the plants Forsskål found. It was called Flora Ægyptiaco-Arabica. Most of the plant and animal samples Forsskål collected were lost or damaged. However, his collection of dried plants, called a herbarium, was put back together much later.
Forsskål used local Arabic names for fish in his scientific work. These names are still used today for many fish species in the Red Sea.
Freedom of the Press
In his essay "Thoughts on Civil Liberty," Forsskål argued for basic freedoms that people in modern countries now take for granted. He wrote that people should be able to share their thoughts about society. He believed that without this freedom, true liberty doesn't exist.
Even though his essay was banned at first, his ideas had an impact. Just seven years later, in 1766, Sweden became the first country in the world to protect freedom of the press in its laws.
See also
In Spanish: Peter Forsskål para niños
