Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld was born to Johan Sparwenfeld (1618–1698) and Christina Uggla. Sparwenfeld began his studies at the age of eight in
Uppsala. Some researchers believe that he studied
law,
history and
languages. And after he had finished studying Sparwenfeld went to search for old Swedish
manuscripts in
The Netherlands,
France and
Italy. In 1674, he was brought by his uncle, amiral
Claes Uggla, on a voyage to the
Duchy of Holstein. And during the
Scanian War (1675–1679) he was captured and brought to England when a Danish corsair caused the ship to sink. It was not until three years later that he was given permission to return to Sweden. In 1684, Sparwenfeld was sent to the Swedish embassy in Moscow. It was during this time that he wrote his diary portraying life and culture in Russia. During his visit to Russia, Sparwenfeld became interested in
Slavic languages, he began to learn Russian and did so really well. He later started with lexicographical studies in Slavic languages and held on to that work for almost 20 years. His work later made him publish the
Lexicon Slavonicum. Sparwenfeld had a strong interest in Arabic. He is known to have acquired the ''Barthélémy d'Herbelots Bibliothéque Ori-entale'' in 1697 from Paris. In which several notes had been made by him showing his interest and knowledge in Arabic. Sparwenfeld had a special interest in
Syrian Arabic. Including Spanish, Arabic, Latin, Russian and Greek. == Personal life ==