Carl Johan Schönherr (1772 – 1848) was a Swedish entomologist who revised the taxonomy

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 of beetles, including weevils.

Born in Stockholm, Schönherr was son of a German immigrant who had established himself as a silk manufacturer. At the age of nineteen, he took over the business together with his mother and developed it into a considerable size, with about 200 workers. In 1805, he entered partnership with Erik Lundgren, and in 1811 he sold the business to him, while retiring to his manor Sparresäter in Lerdala

Lerdala

Lerdala is a locality situated in Skövde Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 434 inhabitants in 2005.It is located between Skövde and Skara. In the summer there are many more people due to the high number of summer cabins in the surrounding area. Lerdala is not to be mixed with the...

 outside Skara

Skara

Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...

 in Västergötland

Västergötland

', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....

, where he died in 1848.

Schönherr had taken an interest in entomology since the age of twelve and was later further stimulated through his friendship with Gustaf Johan Billberg

Gustaf Johan Billberg

Gustaf Johan Billberg was a Swedish botanist, zoologist and anatomist, although professionally and by training he was a lawyer and had science and biology as a hobby....

, his brother-in-law from his second marriage.

He was an eminent coleopterist co-operating with Carl Henrik Boheman

Carl Henrik Boheman

Carl Henrik Boheman was a Swedish entomologist.Boheman studied at Lund University and trained as an officer, participating in the invasion of Norway in 1814...

 and Leonard Gyllenhaal

Leonard Gyllenhaal

Leonard Gyllenhaal was a Swedish military officer and entomologist.Born on the Ribbingsberg manor in Västergötland in west Sweden, Leonard Gyllenhaal was son of an army officer and belonged to a family of the lower nobility...

. Schönherr wrote Genera et species curculionidum, cum synonymia hujus familiae,specie novae aut hactenus minus cognitae, descriptionibus a dom. Leonardo Gyllenhal, C. H. Boheman; et entomologis aliis illustratae. Paris, Roret. (1833-1845) in which many new species were described.

Schönherr was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...

in 1809.