Johan August Wahlberg
Johan August Wahlberg (born October 9, 1810 in Lagklarebäck , Sweden ; † March 6, 1856 Ngamisee , Bechuanaland ) was a Swedish naturalist and explorer.
Life
Wahlberg was born in 1810 as the son of a wholesaler. The father died at the age of nine and the mother two years later. Wahlberg first got private tuition and then moved to the grammar school in Linköping . In 1829 he began studying chemistry at Uppsala University and switched to forestry and agriculture after a year. In 1832 he accompanied the entomologist Carl Henrik Boheman on a trip to Norway. In 1833 and 1834 he traveled through Sweden and Germany on various forest research projects. He also took a land surveyor exam and graduated in 1834. In 1836 he received the title of "engineer" and taught physics, history, natural sciences and astronomy at the school for land surveying.
Between 1838 and 1856 he traveled through southern Africa and sent thousands of animals and plants to Sweden, including large mammals such as elephants, rhinos, giraffes, but also thousands of species of birds and more than 8000 species of insects. While exploring the upper reaches of the Limpopo , Wahlberg was killed by an injured elephant.
Because the news of his death had not yet reached Sweden, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in October 1856 . He is the only member of the Academy who was elected after his death.
Numerous animal and plant species were discovered by Wahlberg and are named after him, including the epaulette bat species Epomophorus wahlbergi , the Wahlberg gecko ( Homopholis wahlbergii ) and the African flower mantis ( Pseudocrabothra wahlbergii ).
Works (selection)
- Bref från naturforskaren . In: Öfversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-akademiens forhandlingar . tape 11 , no. 5 , 1854, pp. 159–163 (Swedish, biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed April 26, 2015]).
literature
- Death of the Swedish naturalist Johann August Wahlberg . In: August Petermann (Hrsg.): Mittheilungen from Justus Perthes' geographical institute about important new researches in the whole area of geography . tape 1857 , p. 207-209 , col. II ( archive.org ).
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Gustav Freiherr von Düben: Memory of Johan August Wahlberg . In: Dr. K. Neumann (Hrsg.): Journal for General Geography . tape 2 . Dietrich Reimer, 1857, ZDB -ID 2155428-6 , p. 329–368 ( google.de - Swedish: Johan August Wahlberg: ett minnesblad . Translated by Wilh. Peters).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wahlberg, Johan August |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish naturalist and explorer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 9, 1810 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lagklarebäck , Sweden |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 6, 1856 |
| Place of death | Lake Ngami , Bechuanaland |