Fredric Hasselquist

Fredric Hasselquist is a Naturaliste and an exploring Swedish, born the January 3rd 1722 with Törnevalla in the province of Östergötland and dead the February 9th 1752 with Smyrna.

It follows the courses of Carl von Linné (1707-1778) to the Université of Uppsala. Following the request for Linné, which considers it regrettable that one knows if little the fauna and the flora of Palestine, Hasselquist decides to leave to explore the area. A subscription enables him to obtain the money necessary to the voyage and it arrives at Smyrna, Izmir at the time, at the end of 1749.

He visits the minor Asia, the Egypt, the island of Cyprus and Palestine and constitutes important collection of Natural history. But its health is fragile and he dies of the continuations of tirednesses of the voyage to Smyrna.

Its collections arrive in good state to Sweden and Linné makes appear, five years after the death of Hasselquist, the report of its voyage under the title Iter Palæstinum, Eller Resa til Heliga Landet, Förrättad Ifrån år 1749 til 1752 . It is translated into French and German in 1762 then in English in 1766.

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