Anders Fredrik Regnell

At the university, he studied botany for a few years, before entering medical school. After graduation and training as a doctor, he moved to Caldas in Brazil, which had a better climate for his weak lungs. His main interest, however, was botany. From his arrival in Caldas in 1840, and up to his death in 1884, he collected plants. Many botanists visited him and stayed in his house for years. These plants are now exhibited in the Regnell herbarium at the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. The herbarium holds more than 400 000 specimens and is one of the largest collections of South American plants in the world. Regnell was considered a peculiar man by those around him and he had few friends. His confidant was Isak Gustaf Clason, a classmate from Uppsala. They never met in person after Regnell left Sweden, but they regularly exchanged letters up to Clason´s death in 1880. These letters were donated to the University library in Uppsala and have been used for this book.