Adam Afzelius (8 October 1750 – 20 January 1837) was a Swedish botanist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Afzelius was born at Larv in Västergötland in 1750. He was appointed teacher of oriental languages at Uppsala University in 1777, and in 1785 demonstrator of botany. In 1793, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Between 1792 to 1796, as part of the Sierra Leone Company, he made two journeys to West Africa, where he reported on the geography, climate, and natural resources of the region. While here, he also collected botanical specimens that were later acquired by Uppsala University. In 1797-1798 he acted as secretary of the Swedish embassy in London and on 19 April 1798, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. Returning to Sweden, he again took up his position as botanices demonstrator at Uppsala, and was in 1802 elected president of the "Zoophytolithic Society" (later called the Linnaean Institute). In 1812, he became professor of materia medica at the university. He died in Uppsala in 1837. In addition to various botanical writings, he published the autobiography of Carl Linnaeus in 1823.
Adam is a common masculine given name.
The personal name Adam derives from the Hebrew noun ha adamah meaning "the ground" or "earth". It is still a Hebrew given name, and its Quranic and Biblical usage has ensured that it is also a common name in all countries which draw on these traditions. It is particularly common in Christian- and Muslim-majority countries. In most languages its spelling is the same, although the pronunciation varies somewhat. Adán is the Spanish form of this name.
Adam is also a surname in many countries, although it is not as common in English as its derivative Adams (sometimes spelled Addams). In other languages there are similar surnames derived from Adam, such as Adamo, Adamov, Adamowicz, Adamski etc.
In Arabic, Adam (آدم) means "made from the earth/mud/clay".
Roger Adam was a French aircraft designer and manufacturer who produced light aircraft in kit from 1948 to 1955. He established the firm Etablissements Aeronautiques R. Adam.
Adam is a fictional character; from the Ravenloft campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Adam was a major character in the 1994 novel, Mordenheim, written by Chet Williamson.
Adam is the darklord of Lamordia. Known as Mordenheim's Monster or the Creature, he is an extremely intelligent and nimble dread flesh golem, based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Adam is the most successful creation of Dr. Victor Mordenheim in his research into the creation of life, albeit the one that causes him grief unmeasured. Adam reduced the doctor's wife Elise to a vegetative state and apparently murdered their adopted daughter Eva.
The two are inextricably bound together: Dr. Mordenheim has Adam's immortality, and in return Adam shares the doctor's anguish.
Usually hidden from sight, Adam is believed to spend most of his time on the Isle of Agony, part of the archipelago known as the Finger.