Martin Vahl was born in
Bergen, Norway and attended
Bergen Cathedral School. He studied botany at the
University of Copenhagen and at
Uppsala University under
Carl Linnaeus. He edited
Flora Danica fasc. XVI-XXI (1787–1799),
Symbolæ Botanicæ I-III (1790–1794),
Eclogæ Americanæ I-IV (1796–1807) and
Enumeratio Plantarum I-II (1804–1805). He lectured at the
University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden from 1779 to 1782. Vahl made several research trips in
Europe and
North Africa between 1783 and 1788. He became
professor at
the Society for Natural History at the University of Copenhagen in 1786 and was a full professor of botany from 1801 to his death. In 1792, he was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark at age 55. His son
Jens Vahl also became a botanist. ==Authority name==