In Swedish history, Linnaeus and his travelling students, “the apostles” have had a place of honour. In the first comprehen­sive biography of Linnaeus and his apostles, a two volume work, published in 1903, Professor Theodor [Thore] Magnus Fries re­ferred to them as “these pioneers of nature research” who, des­pite the fact that some of them “died the deaths of martyrs,” were not discouraged from joining the cause and “tread the same path of starvation…struggle…and death”.