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Biographical data

 

Braad, Christopher (or Christoffer) Hinric (also Henrik or Hindr.)

 

(Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 5: Cyclopaedia of collectors, Supplement I)

 

Born: 1728, Stockholm, Sweden. Died: 1781, Norrköping, Sweden.

 

career:

Studied at Uppsala in 1743; from 1748-62 in the employ of the Swedish East India Company, first as assistant and clerk, later as supercargo; in 1764 he got the title of ‘assessor’.

He was an able man, and was sent on a diplomatic errand to Suratte, disguised as a naturalist, to investigate the possibilities for establishing a Swedish factory there. Later he was offered a director’s post, but declined.

His MS notes made during his travels are valuable.2

 

collections:

According to W.T. Stearn1, Linnaeus had by the time of the completion of the ‘Species Plantarum’ (1753) acquired botanical material from Braad. At that time he had accompanied two voyages to the East, viz in 1748-49, and 1750-52 (itineraries etc. cf. sub Torén), but made four in all; the last one as supercargo in the ‘Riksens Ständer’, sailing April 1760 to Suratte and Canton, probably leaving the ship on the home voyage at Suratte.

 

literature:

(1) Cf. Introduction to ‘Species Plantarium. A Facsimile of the first edition 1753’ (London 1957) p. 108; and Preface of Linnaeus, Species Plantarum (1753); evidently seeds!

(2) Carl-Axel Torén made use of them when writing his paper on O. Torén (see there); in Westinska Sam]. Uppsala Bibl.

 

biographical data:

E. Olán, Ostindiska Compagniets Saga, 1923, p. 136; Krok, Bibl. Bot. Suet. 1925, p. 100.