THUNBERG,CARL,PETER (1743-1828) - THE FATHER OF SOUTH-AFRICAN BOTANY,HIS CONTRIBUTION AND LEGACY

Although Linnaeus, the greatest Swedish scientist of all times, did no t travel outside Europe, it is known that he had a strong desire to go to South Africa, then known as the Cape. He regretted declining, in 1 735, an offer by Boerhaave in Leyden to go to the Cape and to America for a period of three years. However, Linnaeus sent out his disciples on long journeys of exploration to various parts of the world, many su ffering hardships from travel and tropical diseases and several dying in foreign countries. Carl Peter Thunberg was one of these apostles, i ndeed, the most successful. He undertook a nine-year journey to distan t countries, and survived to hold the Linnaean Chair of Medicine and B otany at the University of Uppsala for 44 years. (Karsten 1939 - 1946, Nordenstam 1993).