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Elias Magnus Fries



Elias Magnus Fries

Drawn image of Elias Magnus Fries
BornAugust 15 1794(1794-08-15)
Femsjö, Sweden
DiedFebruary 8 1878 (aged 83)
Uppsala, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
FieldMycology, Botany
InstitutionsUniversity of Lund (1814–1834),
Uppsala University (1834–1878)
Alma materUniversity of Lund
Known forFounder of modern fungal taxonomy
Botany auth. abbrev.Fr.

Elias Magnus Fries (August 15, 1794 – February 8, 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist born at Femsjö in Småland.

Background

In 1811 he entered the University of Lund where, in 1814, he was appointed an associate professorship in botany, and in 1824, became a full professor. In 1834 he became professor borgströmianus of practical economy (from 1851 "botany and practical economy") at Uppsala University.

Fries is considered to be, after Persoon, founding father of modern mushroom taxonomy (see mycology). His taxonomy of mushrooms was influenced by German romantics (see Goethe). He utilized spore color and arrangement of the hymenophore (pores, gills, teeth etc.) as major taxonomic characteristics.

When he died, The Times commented: "His very numerous works, especially on fungi and lichens, give him a position as regards those groups of plants only comparable to that of Linnaeus." (The Times, Thursday, Feb 21, 1878; pg. 6; Issue 29184; col C)

Fries was succeeded in the borgströmian professorship by John Areschoug, after whom Thore Fries, the son of Elias, held the chair.


Persondata
NAME Fries, Elias Magnus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Mycologist, Botanist
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1794
PLACE OF BIRTH Femsjö, Sweden
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1878
PLACE OF DEATH Uppsala, Sweden
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Elias_Magnus_Fries". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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