%0 Journal Article
%T Per Theodor Cleve (1840-1905): The Prolific Part-Time Protistologist and Oceanographer
%A Dolan, John R.
%J Acta Protozoologica
%V 2025
%R 10.4467/16890027AP.25.001.21142
%N Volume 64 / Early View

%K History of Protistology, diatoms, radiolaria, dinoflagelllates, desmids, biogeography
%@ 0065-1583
%D 2025
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/acta-protozoologica/article/per-theodor-cleve-1840-1905-the-prolific-part-time-protistologist-and-oceanographer
%X Per Theodor Cleve is known as a 19th century chemist, credited with discovery of two rare-earth elements. However, throughout his distinguished career as a chemist, he was also a protistologist. From 1863 to 1905, Cleve published prodigiously on protists, authoring over 70 works totaling about 2,500 pages, and he described numerous taxa, especially from the marine plankton. Notably, many of Cleve's works are still cited today. His work concerning the utility of certain protist species in characterizing water masses has been recognized in histories of Oceanography. However, Cleve is not a familiar name to many of us, as he has been consistently overlooked in histories of protistology. Here, first Cleve's life is summarized, and then his contributions to protistology, and oceanography, are reviewed to show his significant, and neglected, contributions to the fields.