Niels Ryberg Finsen

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Niels Ryberg Finsen

Niels Ryberg Finsen (born December 15, 1860 in Tórshavn / Faroe Islands , † September 24, 1904 in Copenhagen ) was a Faroese - Danish doctor and dermatologist who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine . In 1979 the Finsen crater on the back of the moon was named after Niels Ryberg Finsen.

Life

Niels Ryberg Finsen was born in 1860 in the Faroese capital Tórshavn, the son of the Danish Johanne Sofie Caroline Christine Formann and the Icelandic Hannes Kristján Steingrímur Finsen . Hannes was police chief at the time and later became governor of the Faroe Islands . Niels 'older brother Olaf Finsen later became the Faroe Islands' first pharmacist.

Today a memorial stone in front of the building of the imperial ombudsman in the Faroe Islands commemorates him. There the main shopping street in the city center is also called Niels Finsens Gøta (renamed that way shortly after his death).

In 1874 his father sent him from the Faroe Islands to a boarding school in Denmark . But there he had difficulties and longed for the Faroe Islands. So he sent his father to the school of Reykjavik , where he graduated from high school in 1882. That same summer, Finsen returned to the Faroe Islands and began studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen . After that he never saw the Faroe Islands again. He lived temporarily with his parents in Ribe , where his father was bailiff from 1884. Today he is therefore not only regarded in Tórshavn, but also in Ribe as the son of the city . In Copenhagen he maintained close contact with his compatriots from the Faroe Islands and was active among the students in Faroese rowing on the Øresund .

In 1890 he received his doctorate in Copenhagen and became a prosector for anatomy. He gave up this post in 1893 in order to devote more time to his scientific work in the field of the physiological effects of light. From 1896 he was head of an institute for light therapy in Copenhagen that investigated the biological and therapeutic effects of light. In 1898 Finsen was awarded the title of professor in Copenhagen. In 1892 Finsen married the daughter of Bishop Balslev af Ribe Ingeborg Balslev. In 1899 he was knighted as a Knight of the Dannebrog Order , and a few years later he was awarded the Silver Cross. On December 10, 1903, Finsen received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris , with concentrated light radiation, through which he opened a new path for medical research ".

Finsen died in Copenhagen on September 24, 1904.

Niels Ryberg Finsen suffered from a serious illness that appeared as early as 1883 but was only recognized by the autopsy findings, pericarditic pseudo-liver cirrhosis. He spent the last years of his life in a wheelchair.

Niels Ryberg Finsen had four children, the first son died one year after the birth. The second son, Haldor, became a doctor. His daughter Gudrun married Professor S. Lomholt, who was director of the Faculty of Skin Diseases at the Finsen Institute in Copenhagen for many years.

plant

In simple experiments , Finsen demonstrated that the parts of solar radiation with the highest energy (he called them “chemical rays”) can have a stimulating effect on tissue . He also discovered the harmful effects of strong solar radiation and the connection with the strong pigmentation of dark-skinned people. Finsen took the view that damage to the skin caused by strong light radiation can be prevented by simple protective measures.

On the other hand, Finsen found out that light rays without heat radiation can have a positive effect. This discovery led him to the treatment of skin tuberculosis ( lupus vulgaris ) and other skin diseases with sunbathing . However, he found that the radiation in Northern Europe was not sufficient, but studies in the Alps with high radiation by his colleagues O. Bernhard and A. Rollier were very successful.

However, Finsen was able to develop a very effective light therapy especially for skin tuberculosis . This was mainly based on the stimulation of the tissue in the intensely illuminated areas. He used a carbon arc lamp (" finsen light ", " finsen lamp "; for whole-body irradiation, " finsen bath ") in which the arc light was concentrated by rock crystal lenses with good permeability for ultraviolet radiation . The Finsen Institute, founded in Copenhagen in 1896, as well as many other similar institutes in different countries were able to significantly reduce the number of lupus diseases.

Publications

  • On the use of concentrated chemical light rays in medicine , Leipzig 1899.
  • Comments regarding the "Dermo" lamp , in: Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 28, 2, Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart 1902, pp. 35–36. doi : 10.1055 / s-0029-1203363

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Finsen in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature of the IAU (WGPSN) / USGS
  2. ^ Christian Andree: Finsen, Niels Ryberg. 2005, p. 401.
  3. ^ A b Wolfgang U. Eckart : Niels Ryberg Finsen , in: Wolfgang U. Eckart and Christoph Gradmann (eds.): Ärztelexikon. From antiquity to the 20th century , 1st edition 1995 CH Beck Munich p. 133, medical dictionary. From antiquity to the present , 2nd edition 2001, p. 112, 3rd edition 2006 Springer Verlag Heidelberg, Berlin, New York p. 118. Ärztelexikon 2006 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-540-29585-3 .

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Finsen, Niels Ryberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish doctor and Nobel Prize winner
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Tórshavn , Faroe Islands
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1904
Place of death Copenhagen