A 300–year–old sexy Swede
No disrespect to Queen Victoria‚ whose birthday Canadians celebrate this weekend‚ but Swedes are busy toasting a true “class act.”
Next Wednesday is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus.
He is revered as the father of modern taxonomy (the way we classify all living things) and was “by far‚” according to the event’s official website‚ “the most internationally well–known Swede who has ever lived.” (Sorry‚ ABBA.)
Born on a farm in southern Sweden (the founder of IKEA hails from the same district) on May 23‚ 1707‚ Linnaeus was a key inspiration for Charles Darwin and popularized the use of binomial nomenclature‚ the system of giving every plant and animal a two–part Latin name.
For his seminal work‚ Systema Naturae‚ he painstakingly classified more than 15‚000 species‚ which suggests that he was a bit tedious.
In fact‚ Linnaeus was considered quite radical and not because he insisted that hydras‚ satyrs and other mythical creatures truly existed.
Rather‚ he scandalized 18th–century Europeans by classifying plants according to their sex organs‚ going so far as to compare certain parts of the flower to the labia minora and majora. (One entire floral family he named the “Clitoria.”)
This interest in sex went beyond the academic – as a doctor‚ Linnaeus specialized in the treatment of syphilis.
Next week a “festival of love” in his honour will be part of a week–long special celebration in Uppsala‚ the famous university centre where he studied and taught.
Alas‚ although the tercentenary runs all year and features 600 events around the world‚ nothing else seems especially titillating.
Just your garden–variety flower shows‚ picnics‚ seminars and lectures.