2007 marked the Tercentenary of the birth of the great Swedish Naturalist Carl Linnaeus, whose library and biological collections have been in our Society’s keeping since 1829. The Linnean Society began planning the impending celebration of Linnaeus’ birthday in January 2002 when Dr Jenny Edmonds was appointed as the Society’s Tercentenary Coordinator. An exciting programme of events, celebrations and scientific meetings – many in association with other learned Societies – gradually took shape during the next five years. During this time, approaches were also made to other Societies, Museums, Institutions and Libraries both nationally and internationally, and many of their celebrations were incorporated with appropriate links into our new web-site.

A pictorial presentation will trace the major events that occurred during 2007 both at the Linnean Society of London and in Sweden, in chronological order. It will include images from the Society’s Tercentenary launch, its major meetings, three Royal visits, Chelsea Flower Show exhibit and social events. Swedish events to be covered include both the launch and the conclusion of their Tercentenary celebrations in Växjö and Jukkasjärvi respectively, their main birthday celebrations, the joint AngloSwedish symposium in Uppsala, and the Linnean Society excursion to Gotland. All of these events combined to make the year a truly memorable one for the Linnean Society and succeeded in re-emphasising the importance of Linnaeus’ work and its relevance today and for future systematic and biodiversity studies.