But on Saturday, a few hundred people gathered there to close out a year of celebration marking the 300th anniversary of the famed Swedish scientist’s birth.

The more than 400 guests included King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Nobel Prize laureates, as well as the Nordic country’s first astronaut, Christer Fuglesang.

Linnaeus, often called the father of taxonomy, was one of the most significant scientists of his time and developed the modern system of classifying plants and animals. His ideas have influenced generations of scientists, including Charles Darwin, and even those opposed to the philosophical and theological roots of his work.

It is thanks to him that humans are called Homo sapiens in the world of science and are classified as primates in the class of mammals, Mammalia.

Saturday’s festivities featured ice sculptures, fireworks, speeches and performances, including an appearance by Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius and a special composition by Swedish composer Ralph Lundsten.

The ceremony was held in Jukkasjarvi, 200 kilometers, or 125 miles, north of the Arctic Circle, to honor the scientist’s journey to Lapland in northern Sweden in 1732, said Mariethe Larsson, a spokeswoman for the jubilee.

During the trip, Linnaeus studied flora and fauna and Sweden’s indigenous Sami people. He never reached his end-goal, Kiruna and Jukkasjarvi, because of a lack of money, but he published a book, “Iter Lapponicum,” describing the Sami people.

“Linnaeus made pioneering discoveries during this trip,” Larsson said.

By the time he was 30, Linnaeus had written a number of the works that made him famous in the world of science, including “Systema Naturae,” which classified 4,400 species of animals and 7,700 species of plants when it reached its 10th edition in 1758.

The tercentenary anniversary of his birth has been celebrated in 29 countries. In Britain, a Linnaeus garden was featured at the Chelsea Flower Show. Tokyo held an art exhibition, and lime trees were planted in Dublin, Ireland.

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