Born on the Ribbingsberg manor in Västergötland in west Sweden, Leonard Gyllenhaal was son of an army officer and belonged to a family of the lower nobility. He went to school (Skara trivialskola) in the cathedral town of Skara together with, among others, the future poet Johan Henrik Kellgren, and later renowned naturalists Anders Dahl and the brothers Adam and Johan Afzelius, with whom he went on natural excursions. Like some of his friends, he went to Uppsala to study under Linnaeus in 1769. He never matriculated and remained in Uppsala only one semester, before switching to a military career in accordance with the wishes and traditions of the family, enrolling in the Adelsfanan ("Banner of Nobles") cavalry regiment, and a few years later transferring to the drabantkåren (Garde du Corps). Gyllenhaal, however, remained in contact with Linnaeus through an extensive correspondence and continued to work as an amateur naturalist.
He remained in military service until 1799, when he retired with the rank of major. As this did not take all of his time – different detachments of the Garde du Corps served at the royal court for only brief periods each year – he worked on his father's estate Höberg in Norra Vånga parish in Västergötland, which he managed on his own from 1784. He developed the estate, experimenting with new crops such as the American maize.
His main interest ever since youth was entomology, and already in 1775 he had collected some 1300 largely unidentified beetle species from the western part of Götaland. He built a private entomological museum, library and study on Höberg which he called the "Fly house". At his death, he had a collection of 400 boxes of prepared and identified insects, which he left to the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences in Uppsala (later deposited at the Uppsala University Museum of Zoology). His main publication was the Insecta Suecica, describing the insects of Sweden, which took him 30 years to complete and was awarded the gold medal of the Academy of Sciences. Another claim to fame for Gyllenhaal is the fact that he named the common beetle family of Histeridae. He was also elected an honorary member of the French Société entomologique. He was appointed a Knight of the Royal Order of Vasa.
Leonard Gyllenhaal was a leading Swedenborgian who supported the printing and spreading of Swedenborg's writings. His grandson, the Swedish-American journalist Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, retained the faith of his grandfather and was a member of the Swedenborgian New Church. His descendants in the American branch of the family include the actor siblings Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Olle Franzén, "Leonard Gyllenhaal", a complete translation of the SBL article, without the references, but with pictures of the Höberg manor house and the "fly house".
Biographies of Leonard and other members of the Gyllenhaal family in the Nordisk familjebok, 2nd ed., Vol. 10 (1909) (on Projekt Runeberg).
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January 20, 2023
leonard, gyllenhaal, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, november, 2021, learn, . This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations November 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Leonard Gyllenhaal 3 December 1752 13 May 1840 was a Swedish military officer and entomologist Leonard GyllenhaalLeonard Gyllenhaal Lithography Born 1752 12 03 3 December 1752Ribbingsberg manor VastergotlandDied13 May 1840 1840 05 13 aged 87 Occupation s Military officer entomologistFamilyGyllenhaalBorn on the Ribbingsberg manor in Vastergotland in west Sweden Leonard Gyllenhaal was son of an army officer and belonged to a family of the lower nobility He went to school Skara trivialskola in the cathedral town of Skara together with among others the future poet Johan Henrik Kellgren and later renowned naturalists Anders Dahl and the brothers Adam and Johan Afzelius with whom he went on natural excursions Like some of his friends he went to Uppsala to study under Linnaeus in 1769 He never matriculated and remained in Uppsala only one semester before switching to a military career in accordance with the wishes and traditions of the family enrolling in the Adelsfanan Banner of Nobles cavalry regiment and a few years later transferring to the drabantkaren Garde du Corps Gyllenhaal however remained in contact with Linnaeus through an extensive correspondence and continued to work as an amateur naturalist He remained in military service until 1799 when he retired with the rank of major As this did not take all of his time different detachments of the Garde du Corps served at the royal court for only brief periods each year he worked on his father s estate Hoberg in Norra Vanga parish in Vastergotland which he managed on his own from 1784 He developed the estate experimenting with new crops such as the American maize His main interest ever since youth was entomology and already in 1775 he had collected some 1300 largely unidentified beetle species from the western part of Gotaland He built a private entomological museum library and study on Hoberg which he called the Fly house At his death he had a collection of 400 boxes of prepared and identified insects which he left to the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences in Uppsala later deposited at the Uppsala University Museum of Zoology His main publication was the Insecta Suecica describing the insects of Sweden which took him 30 years to complete and was awarded the gold medal of the Academy of Sciences Another claim to fame for Gyllenhaal is the fact that he named the common beetle family of Histeridae He was also elected an honorary member of the French Societe entomologique He was appointed a Knight of the Royal Order of Vasa Curculio elephas a beetle described by Gyllenhaal Leonard Gyllenhaal was a leading Swedenborgian who supported the printing and spreading of Swedenborg s writings His grandson the Swedish American journalist Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal retained the faith of his grandfather and was a member of the Swedenborgian New Church His descendants in the American branch of the family include the actor siblings Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal References EditOlle Franzen Gyllenhaal Leonard Svenskt biografiskt lexikon Vol 17 pp 558 561 Olle Franzen Leonard Gyllenhaal a complete translation of the SBL article without the references but with pictures of the Hoberg manor house and the fly house Biographies of Leonard and other members of the Gyllenhaal family in the Nordisk familjebok 2nd ed Vol 10 1909 on Projekt Runeberg Biographies of Leonard and other members of the Gyllenhaal family in Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon vol 1 1906 on Projekt Runeberg See also EditGyllenhaal family Wikispecies has information related to Leonard Gyllenhaal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Leonard Gyllenhaal amp oldid 1091491752, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
