Thorild Wulff was a Swedish botanist

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 and polar explorer.

He obtained his doctorate degree from Lund University

Lund University

Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...

 in 1902 based on observation he had made during a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

-Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n geodesy

Figure of the Earth

The expression figure of the Earth has various meanings in geodesy according to the way it is used and the precision with which the Earth's size and shape is to be defined. The actual topographic surface is most apparent with its variety of land forms and water areas. This is, in fact, the surface...

 expedition to Svalbard

Svalbard

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...

.

Wulff was research assistant in horticulture ("Centralanstalten för försöksväsendet på jordbruksområdet") 1905–09, docent of botany at Stockholm University College 1909–13. In 1911 he travelled to Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 with his friend the author Albert Engström

Albert Engström

Albert Laurentius Johannes Engström was a Swedish artist, author and member of the Swedish Academy from 1922. He was born in Lönneberga, Kalmar County , but spent most of his childhood in Hult where his father was the railroad stationmaster...

 who gave an account of the journey ("Åt Häcklefjäll" 1913).

He participated in the Second Thule Expedition led by Knud Rasmussen from Thule

Pituffik

Pituffik is a former settlement in northern Greenland, located at the current site of the American Thule Air Base. The former inhabitants were relocated to the present-day town of Qaanaaq...

 to Cape Bridgman in the northeastern corner of Peary Land

Peary Land

Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland's mainland, and Cape...

. On the return trip, the expedition suffered from bad weather and insufficient supplies, resulting in casualties, one of them being Wulff. He died from fatigue near Cape Agassiz off the Humboldt Glacier.

The Greenlandic plant species Braya thorild-wulffii (Brassicaceae

Brassicaceae

Brassicaceae, a medium sized and economically important family of flowering plants , are informally known as the mustards, mustard flowers, the crucifers or the cabbage family....

) was named after him in 1923. The North Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

peninsula Wulff Land is similarly named for him.