Peter Artedi

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Peter Artedi or Petrus Arctaedius (February 22, 1705 – September 27, 1735) was a Swedish naturalist and is known as the "father of Ichthyology."

Artedi was born in the province of Ångermanland. Intending to become a clergyman, he went, in 1724, to study theology at Uppsala University, but he turned his attention to medicine and natural history, especially fishes. In 1728 his countryman Carolus Linnaeus arrived in Uppsala, and a lasting friendship was formed between the two. 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.

Artedi accidentally drowned at Amsterdam, where he was engaged in cataloguing the collections of Albertus Seba, a wealthy Dutchman, who had formed what was perhaps the richest museum of his time. 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.

On his grave, an epitaph by George Shaw is engraved:

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.

Further reading

• Engel, H (1970). "Artedi, Peter". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 305–306. ISBN 0684101149. 

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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