Ludwig Emanuel Schaerer

Ludwig Emanuel Schaerer was a Swiss pastor and lichenologist. Interested in natural history from a young age, Schaerer trained as a teacher and studied theology in Bern. During his career as a teacher, orphanage director, and pastor, he researched extensively and maintained correspondence with foreign botanists interested in cryptogams. Schaerer was best known for his multi-volume work Lichenum Helveticorum Spicilegium, published in 12 parts from 1823 to 1842. This series catalogued and described the lichens of Switzerland, particularly those in the Alps, where he often went on collecting excursions. In another series, he compiled and distributed dried herbarium specimens acquired from his collections. Several lichen taxa have been named in honour of Schaerer.