Fredrik Wilhelm Radloff – Demonstrator in Botany at old Åbo Akademi

Authors

• Henry Väre Finnish Museum of Natural History, Botanical Museum

Abstract

Radloff was the Demonstrator in Botany (1806–1809) at Åbo Akademi. His main duty was to instruct medical students on the subject of medicinal plants. In his own thesis, De Myristica, supervised by Professor Carl Peter Thunberg, he presented morphological characters of two species of the genus. Two theses supervised by Radloff provide valuable information on plantations in the old Åbo Akademi Botanic Garden. Prior to this position Radloff was appointed regional Physician of Åland 1789–1799. There he compiled a regional description that includes a list of local species. The latter part of his career in Finland Radloff acted as a secretary of the Royal Finnish Economy Society 1805–1813. In those years Radloff wrote on the cultivation trials of root crops and fences.