Swedish Academy Decorates Cuban Historiane

Havana, Nov 29. -The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences has awarded Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal with its Linnean medal, for promoting the life and work of Erik L. Ekman (1883-1931).

The medal acknowledges the Cuban historian's contribution to making known the life and work of Ekman,who devoted his life to studying Caribbean and Cuban botany, Granma newspaper reported.

The award ceremony was held at the Alejandro de Humboldt House in Old Havana, in the presence of Swedish Ambassador Caroline Fleetwood, and the institute's emeritus professor, Ekman Bertil Nordenstam, the bearer of the medal.

Ekman lived in Cuba from 1914 to 1924, and in that period he collected over 19,000 specimens of national flora and reported 2,000 new species for science, some of them discovered during his climb — "the first of an international botanist" — to the top of Turquino Peak in eastern Cuba.

The Linnean Medal was struck to honor Carl von Linne (Carl Linnaeus), founder of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, professor of Medicine at Uppsala University, and a botany expert.(Prensa Latina)