Sven Ludvig Lovén

Sven Ludvig Lovén ( born January 6, 1809 in Stockholm, † September 3, 1895 at Gut Karl Borg at Haga near Stockholm ) was a Swedish naturalist and choirmaster.

Biography

Family

Sven Lovén was the son of merchant, military and members of the Reichstag Christian Lovén ( 1765-1854 ). He was in 1841 married to Sigrid Mathilda Ekström and had with her ​​son Sigurd Lovén ( 1849-1888 ), the physician was. One of his cousins ​​, the physician Nils Henrik Lovén (1801-1877) and the ethnologist and priests, Nils Lovén included ( 1796-1858 ).

As a researcher

Lovén studied in Uppsala, where he received his degree. In 1829 he was promoted to Master and the following year he received the appointment as lecturer in zoology at the University of Lund. His main interest was directed at that time to the vertebrates, especially birds. Evidence of his work Om fåglarnes geografiska utbredning (For the geographical distribution of birds ).

In the years 1830/31 Lovén took a trip to Berlin where he studied in more detail the organizational behavior of the animals. During his stay, he followed the suggestion of his teacher, Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg and Karl Asmund Rudolphi, and increasingly devoted himself to the study of invertebrate marine animals.

The specialization in this area enabled Lovén a series of research cruises. One of his first scientific trips led him to the Swedish west coast. Furthermore followed 1836/37 a ride in the northern Norwegian county of Finnmark as well as Spitsbergen. This trip is considered the first scientific Swedish excursion into those areas. He prepared the ground for the following and more famous expeditions, for example, Otto Torell, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld and Alfred Gabriel Nathorst. On Spitsbergen Lovén recognized similarities between the Arctic flora and fauna of Scandinavia to the last ice age.

To Lovens early scientific papers include two contributions to the "Swedish trilobites " (1844 and 1845 ) and a work on the systematics of the Scandinavian molluscs, index molluscorum (1846 ). He became internationally known mainly for his work on the embryonic development of mollusks, especially to the free- floating Trochophoralarven. Already in 1835 Lovén had discovered a previously unknown type of cancer, which he called Evadne nordmanni. Lovens elected to the Swedish Academy of Sciences took place in 1840 and the following year he received his appointment as professor. In 1841 he became head of the mollusc department at the Natural History National Museum in Stockholm. He held until 1892 this post.

In the years 1870-1892 Lovén turned his academic attention to the echinoderms, mainly sea urchins. To this end, he established in the fishing village Kristine Berg in Bohuslän a marine research station, which is now part of Sven- Lovén - Center for Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg. Among the scientific work that can emerged during this period Etudes sur les echinoidées (1874 ) and On Pourtalesia, are a genus of Echinoidea (1883 ) called.

As a choral conductor

In the time spent Lovén in Lund, he dealt with music in addition to scientific research, especially with vocal music. 1829/30 he led a quartet that practiced in his laboratory. While Lovén study trip to Berlin had in Lund founded a new student union that could win him after his return as a choral conductor. On November 20, 1831 gave the choir, who later took the name Lunds Studentsångförening ( Lunds students singing club ) gave to his first concert. The members of the first hour was one example the Composer Otto Lindblad, who was also Lovens successor as choirmaster.

Lovens election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music was 1868.