Pehr Forskål

(1732–1763)


This Finnish naturalist, explorer, and professor studied briefly under Linnaeus in Sweden and mastered subjects such as economics, theology, and Oriental languages. His broad knowledge made him a good choice for a royally sponsored expedition to Arabia in 1761. Though Forskål died of malaria in 1763, the expedition’s sole survivor saved his Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica and had it published.

Right: HI Archives portrait no. 1.


Pehr Forskål (1732–1763). Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica: Sive Descriptiones Plantarum, quas per Aegytum Inferiorem et Arabiam Felicem … (Copenhagen, 1775).

Forskål joined an expedition to the Near East in 1761, working as a naturalist and collecting extensively in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. His Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica was published posthumously.


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