Finnish naturalist and Lutheran priest in Siberia. Born in Nyslott (Savonlinna), Erik Laxmann studied at the Åbo Academy (now Turku) from 1757 and moved to St. Petersburg in 1762 where he was ordained as a priest. After briefly working worked as a teacher in a German private school he was sent to Siberia in 1864 to work as preacher to a German Lutheran community in Barnaul. Moving to this town on the upper reaches of the Ob River, Laxmann began to explore the region and collect plant and animal specimens. He was in correspondence with the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg and with Carl Linnaeus in Sweden, to whom he sent many herbarium specimens. His exploration grew ever-more ambitious and in 1766-1767 he travelled 3,000 kilometres on an expedition to Irkutsk, Baikal and Kiachta (Kyakhta). On returning to St. Petersburg in 1768, Laxmann had developed quite a name for himself in the sphere of scientific exploration and was soon appointed professor of chemistry and economics at the Academy of Science.

Working in this capacity for ten years (1770-1780) Laxmann was tasked with editing and publishing the findings of fellow Siberian explorer and botanist J.P. Falck, who had committed suicide in Kazan. Taking on the task, he was once again sent to Siberia to work for the Ministry of Mines in Nerchinsk, but soon had to return to St. Petersburg when accused of misconduct, although the problems were probably just due to disorganisation and he soon returned to Nerchinsk to work as an 'Ispravnic' (a law enforcement clerk or sheriff). From 1784 until his death Laxmann was based in Irkutsk where he developed a museum and collected for the Imperial Cabinet. In 1792 Laxmann was also involved in the preparation of an expedition to return some shipwrecked Japanese subjects to their home country and make economically important ties. His son, Adam Laxmann, was tasked with leading the voyage which he carried out successfully. Erik was due to take part in a second Japanese expedition but died at the outset.

Sources:
W.J. Bryce, 2008, A Botanist's Paradise: The Establishment of Scientific Botany in Russia in the Eighteenth Century
Anon, 1911, "Laxman, Erik", Nordisk familjebok, 15: 1447-1448
M. Rowell, 1980, "Linnaeus and Botanists in Eighteenth-Century Russia", Taxon, 29(1): 15-26
I. Svanberg, 1986, "Turkic Ethnobotany and Ethnozoology as Recorded by Johan Peter Falck", Svenska Linné-Sällskapets Åsskrift, 1986-1987: 53-118.