Carl Skottsberg

Carl Johan Fredrik Skottsberg was a Swedish botanist and Antarctic explorer, born on December 1st, 1880 in Karlshamn and died on June 14th, 1963.

He studied at the University of Uppsala from 1898 and obtained his doctorate in 1907. He then became Privatdozent. He took part in a Swedish expedition to Antarctica from 1901 to 1903 and then led the Swedish expedition to Patagonia from 1907 to 1909.

He was curator of the Botanical Garden of the University of Uppsala from 1909 to 1914 then left for the new Botanical Garden of Gothenburg from 1915. He became professor and director of the garden in 1919.

Skottsberg became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and several other learned societies. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1950. He was awarded the Linnaean Medal (1959) and the Darwin-Wallace Silver Medal (1958) by the Linnaean Society of London.

Skottsberg Lake (see above), located within the Torres del Paine National Park, was named in his honour.