Commemoration of Carl Linnaeus end of his life in 1778, Carl Linnaeus had become one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe, the first civilian in Sweden to be dubbed a knight of the Order of the Polar Star (1753) and ennobled as Carl von Linné (1761). The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote during Linnaeus' lifetime: "I know no greater man on earth." The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe would later write: "With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, I know no one among the no longer living who has influenced me more strongly." Swedish author August Strindberg wrote: "Linnaeus was in reality
Carl Linnaeus the Younger head of Practical Medicine at Uppsala. His promotion to professor—without taking exams or defending a thesis—caused resentment among his colleagues. Linnaeus' work was modest in comparison to that of his father. His best-known work is the "Supplementum Plantarum systematis vegetabilium" of 1781, which contains botanical descriptions by the elder Linnaeus and his colleagues, edited and with additions by the son. He took a two-year trip to England, France, The Netherlands and Denmark between 1781-1783. In London he had laid the ground for sickness (jaundice), and shortly after his return, he suffered the fever and stroke from which he died at