His friend and companion, Niebuhr, was entrusted with the care of
editing his MSS., and published in 1775 _Descriptiones animalium,
avium, amphibiorum, piscium, insectorum, vermium, quae in itin.
Orient. observavit Petrus Forskal_. In the same year appeared also his
account of the plants of Arabia Felix and of lower Egypt, under the
title of _Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica_.
FORSSELL, HANS LUDVIG (1843-1901), Swedish historian and political
writer, the son of Adolf Forssell, a distinguished mathematician, was
born at Gefle, where his father was professor, on 14th January 1843. At
the age of sixteen he became a student in Upsala University, where he
distinguished himself, and where, in 1866, having taken the degree of
doctor, he was appointed reader in history. At the age of thirty,
however, Forssell, who had already shown remarkable business capacity,
was called to Stockholm, where he filled one important post after
another in the Swedish civil service. In 1875 he was appointed head of
the treasury, and in 1880 was transferred to the department of inland
revenue, of which he continued to be president until the time of his
death. In addition to the responsibilities which these offices devolved
upon him, Forssell was constantly called to serve on royal commissions,
and his political influence was immense. In spite of all these public
duties, which he carried through with the utmost diligence, Forssell
also found leisure for an abundant literary activity. Of his historical
writings the most important were: _The Administrative and Economical
History of Sweden after Gustavus I._ (1869-1875) and _Sweden in 1571_
(1872). He was also for several years, in company with the poet Wirsen,
editor of the _Swedish Literary Review_. He published two volumes of
_Studies and_ _Criticisms_ (1875, 1888). In the year 1881, at the death
of the historian Anders Fryxell, Forssell was elected to the vacant seat
on the Swedish Academy. The energy of Forssell was so great, and he
understood so little the economy of strength, that he unquestionably
overtaxed his vital force. His death, however, which occurred with great
suddenness on the 2nd of August 1901 while he was staying at San
Bernardino in Switzerland, was wholly unexpected. There was little of
the typical Swedish urbanity in Forssell's exterior manner, which was
somewhat dry and abrupt. Like many able men who have from early life
administered responsible public posts, there appeared a certain want of
sympathy in his demands upon others. His views were distinct, and held
with great firmness; for example, he was a free-trader, and his
consistent opposition to what he called "the new system" had a
considerable effect on Swedish policy. He was not exactly an attractive
man, but he was a capable, upright and efficient public servant. In 1867
he married Miss Zulamith Eneroth, a daughter of the well-known
pomologist of Upsala; she survived him, with two sons and two daughters.
(E. G.)
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