Born in
Kristianstad, he matriculated at
Lund University in 1758, where he graduated as a
filosofie magister in 1766. He also trained as an apothecary apprentice. He received the position of
docent of chemistry at Lund in 1766, and of
natural history in 1767. He became extraordinary professor of natural history in 1777, and thereafter held various chairs of natural history, economy and chemistry until his retirement in 1812. He died in
Stockholm on 6 October 1821. He described many new
species of
insects and did fundamental work on their
classification. Retzius was elected a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1782. He was the father of
Anders Retzius and grandfather of
Gustaf Retzius. Disciples of Anders Jahan Retzius include the botanist
Carl Adolph Agardh, the zoologist and archaeologist
Sven Nilsson, the botanist and entomologist
Carl Fredrik Fallén, and the entomologist
Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt. He was also an influence on the botanist
Elias Fries who arrived in Lund by the time Retzius was already an old man. ==Selected works==