Peter Forsskål

Peter Forsskål, known in his native language as Pehr Forsskål, was a Swedish botanist, explorer, ichthyologist, and naturalist. Born in Helsinki in 1732, he was educated at Uppsala University and the University of Göttingen. He worked in Uppsala and Göttingen and was employed by Uppsala University. His doctoral advisor was Carl Linnaeus, and he was a member of the Apostles of Linnaeus. He worked in the fields of botany, philosophy, and anthropology.

Forsskål died in 1763 from malaria under natural causes. He spoke Latin and is cited in zoology as Forsskål. His notable works include *Herbarium Forsskålii*, *Resa till lycklige Arabien*, *Voyage de M. Niebuhr en Arabie et en d'autres pays de l'Orient*, *Den Arabiske rejse 1761-1767*, and *Flora Ægyptiaco-Arabica, sive, Descriptiones plantarum quas per Ægytum Inferiorem et Arabiam felicem*. His collection items are held at the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, the National Herbarium of Victoria, the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, and Harvard University Herbaria.