Early Life and Education
Andreas (Anders) Dahl was the son Christoffer Dahl, a preacher, and his wife, Johanna Helena Enegren. He was probably christened "Andreas" but was known as "Anders". He had an older brother Erik who was born in 1749, also in Varnhem.
In 1755, the family moved from Varnhem to the parish of Saleby outside Lidköping where his father became the parish priest; Anders' younger brother Kristoffer was born there in 1758. His mother died in 1760, and two years later, Cristoffer married Helena Elisabeth Kolmodin, daughter of the poet Olof Kolmodin. A half-brother, Olof Kolmodin Dahl, was born in 1766. After his stepmother's death in 1768, his father married for a third time; Anna Christina Svinhufvud, in 1770. Cristoffer Dahl died a year later, in 1771.
From an early age Dahl was interested in botany. Anders Tidström, a disciple of pioneering botanist and taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus, met the nine year old Dahl during his second journey through Västergötlan in 1760, and mentions in his travel diary both young Anders' interest in botany, and his collection of plants (received from his uncle Anders Silvius, a chemist in Skara).
In 1761 Dahl began school in Skara, and found several schoolmates who shared his interest in natural science. In conjunction with the parish priest and naturalist Clas Bjerkander, Dahl, Johan Abraham, etymologist Leonard Gyllenhaal, chemist Johan Afzelius, Daniel Naezén and Olof Knös founded "The Swedish Topographic Society in Skara" on December 13, 1769. The members reported on plant and animal life, geography, topography, historical monuments and economic life, mostly in the Västergötland area. During this time Dahl wrote several essays in these subjects; most of them are still unpublished.
On April 3, 1770 Dahl entered Uppsala University, where he became one of Linnaeus's students. After his father's death in 1771, Dahl's family fell into financial straits and he had to leave school; prematurely ending his formal education. On May 1, 1776 he passed a preliminary candidate exam for medicine, the equivalent of a bachelor's degree.
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