LINNEUS (LINNÉ), KARL. VON. - Born at Råshult (Sweden) on 13 May 1707 and died at Uppsala on 10 Jan. 1778. Of humble origins, he inherited from his father a passion for the study of nature. Declared by his teachers unsuited to study, he was subsequently sent by his father to the University of Lund to study medicine. Having gained renown through his first botanical researches, he was sent to collect plants in Lapland (1732); on his return, in order to obtain his doctorate, he went to Holland, to Hardwijk, where he received his degree in 1735 and where his Systema naturae became known and was appreciated by Boerhaave and Gronovius, who had it published at his own expense.
He was in contact with all the scientific personalities of his time (Celsius, Réamur, etc.). In 1741 he obtained the chair of botany at the University of Uppsala, where he received recognition and honours.
He published no fewer than 180 works of considerable size. A convinced religious believer, he did not concern himself with theories, but carried out precise investigations, the fruit of his most acute spirit of observation. He was the first to arrange systematically the three kingdoms of nature; to him is due the introduction of binomial classification, which made possible the ordering of species discovered subsequently, down to our own times.
He defined the concept of species; for L. this is understood as the elementary unit of the organic world, a fixed entity not susceptible to variation. His works are held by the Linnean Society of London.