Sven Adolf Bratt - Commodore and collector of natural specimens (1806 - 1887).
A large collection of pressed seaweed and shells can be found in the Swedish Maritime Museum collections.
Naval officer and scientist
(Sven) Adolf Bratt was a Swedish naval officer. As a young man he served in the French fleet during the invasion of Algiers in 1830, which heralded the French colonisation of Algeria.
In the years 1832-33 he made a voyage to the west coast of South America on the French brig Le Griffon. He returned in 1857, though this time as the captain of the Swedish corvette Lagerbielke.
The Adolf Bratt collection
The naval surgon Rolland on Le Griffon was an enthusiastic collector of natural specimens – plants and animals from foreign countries. During the voyage in South America he encouraged Adolf Bratt to collect aquatic plants and shells and to describe and organise them in a scientific manner.
Bratt may also have been inspired by the disciples of Carolus Linnaeus, who fifty to a hundred years earlier brought back large collections of specimen from their travels around the world.
Objects on display in the exhibition:
- Shell and phanerogam collection from the west coast of South America by Sven Adolf Bratt during his time in the French Navy, 1829-1834. O 01002
- Megaphone belonging to Commodore Sven Adolf Bratt. O 00350