imported>Yeysus: /* Foundation of Novo Nordisk */

2025-11-01T17:25:15Z

Foundation of Novo Nordisk

New page

{{Short description|Danish physiologist (1874–1949)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = August Krogh
| image = August Krogh Bain 32006.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Undated portrait of Krogh
| birth_name = Schack August Steenberg Krogh
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1874|11|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Grenaa]], Denmark
| death_date = {{death date and age|1949|9|13|1874|11|15|df=y}}
| death_place = Copenhagen
| alma_mater = [[University of Copenhagen]]
| thesis_title = Frøernes Hud- og Lungerespiration
| field = [[animal physiology|Zoophysiology]]
| work_institutions = [[University of Copenhagen]]
| thesis_year = 1903
| doctoral_advisor = [[Christian Bohr]]
| notable_students = [[Knut Schmidt-Nielsen]] [[Hans Ussing]] [[Torkel Weis-Fogh]]
| known_for = [[Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide]] [[Perfusion]] [[Krogh model]] [[Krogh length]] [[Krogh's principle]]
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Marie Krogh]]|1905|1943|end=d.}}
| children = Erik Viggo Krogh Ellen Rigmor Krogh Agnes Helga Krogh [[Bodil Mimi Schmidt-Nielsen|Bodil Schmidt Nielsen]]
| prizes = [[Baly Medal]] (1945) [[Croonian Medal]] (1940) [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (1920)
}}

'''Schack August Steenberg Krogh''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Foreign Member of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]]}}<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1=Hill | first1=A. V. | author-link=Archibald Hill| title=August Schack Steenberg Krogh. 1874-1949 | doi=10.1098/rsbm.1950.0014 | journal=[[Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume=7 | issue=19 | pages=220–237 | year=1950 | s2cid=161131285 }}</ref> (15 November 1874 – 13 September 1949) was a [[Denmark|Danish]] professor at the department of [[animal physiology|zoophysiology]] at the [[University of Copenhagen]] from 1916 to 1945.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1=Drinker | first1=C. K. | title=August Krogh: 1874-1949 | journal=Science | volume=112 | issue=2900 | pages=105–107 | year=1950 | pmid=15442251 | doi=10.1126/science.112.2900.105| bibcode=1950Sci...112..105D }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Liljestrand | first1=G. | title=August Krogh | doi=10.1111/j.1748-1716.1950.tb00688.x | journal=Acta Physiologica Scandinavica | volume=20 | issue=2–3 | pages=109–116 | year=1950 | pmid= 15413515}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|pmid=15420871|year=1950|title=Deaths of C. M. Wenyon, Clifford Dobell and A. Krogh|journal=Comptes rendus des séances de la Société de biologie et de ses filiales |volume=144 |issue=3–4 |pages=160–1}}</ref> He contributed a number of fundamental discoveries within several fields of [[physiology]], and is famous for developing [[Krogh's principle]].<ref>{{Cite journal | title=August Krogh (1874-1949) the physiologist's physiologist | journal=JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association | volume=199 | issue=7 | pages=496–497 | year=1967 | pmid=5335475| doi=10.1001/jama.199.7.496}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Hurst | first1=J. W. | last2=Fye | first2=W. B. | last3=Zimmer | first3=H. G. | doi=10.1002/clc.4960290514 | title=August Krogh | journal=Clinical Cardiology | volume=29 | issue=5 | pages=231–233 | year=2006 | pmid= 16739398| pmc=6653951}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|pmid= 14901880 |pmc= 2599127 |year= 1951 |last1= Rehberg |first1= P. B. |title= August Krogh, November 15, 1874-September 13, 1949 |journal= The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine |volume= 24 |issue= 2 |pages= 83–102 }}</ref>

In 1920 August Krogh was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] for the discovery of the mechanism of regulation of the [[capillary|capillaries]] in skeletal [[muscle]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Larsen | first1=E. H. | title=August Krogh (1874-1949): 1920 Nobel Prize | journal=Ugeskrift for Laeger | volume=169 | issue=35 | pages=2878 | year=2007
| pmid=17877986}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Sulek | first1=K. | title=Nobel prize for August Krogh in 1920 for his discovery of regulative mechanism in the capillaries | journal=Wiadomosci Lekarskie | volume=20
| issue=19 | pages=1829 | year=1967 | pmid=4870667}}</ref> Krogh was first to describe the adaptation of blood perfusion in muscle and other organs according to demands through opening and closing the [[arteriole]]s and [[Capillary|capillaries]].<ref name=Nobel/>

Besides his contributions to medicine, Krogh was also one of the founders of what is today the [[Novo Nordisk]] company.<ref name="Novo Nordisk">{{cite web |title=The Founders |url=http://www.novonordisk.com/about-novo-nordisk/novo-nordisk-history/the-founders.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716194526/http://www.novonordisk.com/about-novo-nordisk/novo-nordisk-history/the-founders.html |archive-date=16 July 2016 |access-date=2 August 2016 |publisher=Novo Nordisk}}</ref>

==Life==
He was born in [[Grenaa]] on the peninsula of [[Djursland]] in [[Denmark]], the son of Viggo Krogh, a shipbuilder. His mother (born Drechmann) was the daughter of a customs officer in Holstein. Through his mother’s family he claimed "a dash of" [[Romani people|Romani]] blood [https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1950.0014]. Krogh was educated at the [[Aarhus Katedralskole]] in [[Aarhus]]. He attended the [[University of Copenhagen]] graduating MSc in 1899 and gaining a doctorate PhD in 1903.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://rse.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/RSE-Fellows-BiographicalIndex-2.pdf}}</ref>

Krogh was a pioneer in [[comparative physiology]]. He wrote his thesis on the respiration through the skin and lungs in [[frog]]s: ''Respiratory Exchange of Animals'', 1915. Later Krogh took on studies of water and electrolyte [[homeostasis]] of aquatic animals and he published the books: ''Osmotic Regulation'' (1939) and ''Comparative Physiology of Respiratory Mechanisms'' (1941). He contributed more than 200 research articles in international journals. He was a constructor of scientific instruments of which several had considerable practical importance, such as the [[spirometer]] and the apparatus for measuring [[basal metabolic rate]].

Krogh began lecturing in the [[University of Copenhagen]] in 1908 and in 1916 was promoted to full professor, becoming the head of the first laboratory for animal [[physiology]] (zoophysiology) at the university.<ref name=NBI>{{cite web |title=George de Hevesy: Explosion of new knowledge |url=http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/www/george_/de_hevesy/foerste_dokument/|publisher=Niels Bohr Institute |access-date=2 August 2016|date=2014-09-11}}</ref>

Krogh was elected an International Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1931,<ref>{{Cite web |title=August Krogh |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/august-krogh |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |date=9 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref> an International Member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1937,<ref>{{Cite web |title=August Krogh |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001954.html |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> and an International Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=August+Krogh&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

In the 1930s, Krogh worked with two other Nobel prizewinners, the radiochemist [[George de Hevesy]] and the physicist [[Niels Bohr]] on the permeability of membranes to [[heavy water]] and radioactive [[isotope]]s, and together, they managed to obtain Denmark's first [[cyclotron]] for experiments on animal and plant physiology as well as in dental and medical work.<ref name=NBI/>

== Foundation of Novo Nordisk ==
In 1922, August Krogh went on a lecture tour to North America after receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. During this tour, he and his wife [[Marie Krogh|Marie]], a doctor who was herself suffering from a [[type 2 diabetes]], visited Toronto where the scientists [[Frederick Banting]], [[Charles Best (medical scientist)|Charles Best]] and [[John Macleod (physiologist)|John Macleod]] had just succeeded in manufacturing active insulin. Krogh received permission to manufacture insulin in the Nordic countries and joined forces with [[Hans Christian Hagedorn]], a physician specialising in diabetes, to start the production of insulin in Denmark. This led to the establishment of Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium company in 1923.<ref name="Novo Nordisk" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our history |url=https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/who-we-are/our-history/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=Novo Nordisk Fonden |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1925, brothers [[Harald Pedersen (engineer) | Harald]] and [[Thorvald Pedersen]], who were former employees of Nordisk, formed their own company, Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium. Novo and Nordisk competed until they merged in 1989 to become [[Novo Nordisk]] A/S.[https://www.novonordisk.com/about/our-heritage.html]

==Family==
He married [[Marie Krogh]] ([[Birth name|née]] Jørgensen, 1874–1943) in 1905. She was a renowned scientist in her own right and much of August Krogh's work was carried out in close collaboration with her.<ref name="Nobel">{{cite web |title=August Krogh - Facts |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1920/krogh-facts.html |publisher=Nobelprize.org |access-date=2 August 2016}}</ref>

August and Marie had four children, the youngest of whom, [[Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen|Bodil]], was born in 1918. She too was a physiologist, and became the first woman president of the [[American Physiological Society]] in 1975.<ref name="BodilObit">{{cite web |url=http://www.the-aps.org/mm/Publications/Journals/Physiologist/Archive/2015-Issues/July-2015-Vol-58No-4/Obituary/Bodil-Schmidt-Nielsen-1918-2015-48th-APS-President |title=Obituary Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen (1918-2015) 48th APS President |last=Dantzler |first=William H. |date=July 2015 |access-date=December 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222212157/http://www.the-aps.org/mm/Publications/Journals/Physiologist/Archive/2015-Issues/July-2015-Vol-58No-4/Obituary/Bodil-Schmidt-Nielsen-1918-2015-48th-APS-President |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bodil married another eminent physiologist, [[Knut Schmidt-Nielsen]].<ref>''Living history of physiology: Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen'' (Prof. William Dantzler. University of Arizona) [http://advan.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/30/1/1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226073815/http://advan.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/30/1/1|date=2008-12-26}}</ref><ref>''48th APS President (1975-1976)Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen'' (American Physiological Society) {{cite web|url=http://the-aps.org/about/pres/introbsn.htm |title=© the American Physiological Society - Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen |access-date=2009-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121170603/http://www.the-aps.org/about/pres/introbsn.htm |archive-date=2009-11-21 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[Torkel Weis-Fogh]], an eminent pioneer on the study of [[insect flight]], was a student of August Krogh's. Together they wrote a classic paper on that subject in 1951.<ref name="classic">{{cite journal |last1=Krogh |first1=August |last2=Weis-Fogh |first2=Torkel |author-link2=Torkel Weis-Fogh |year=1951 |title=The Respiratory Exchange of the Desert Locust (Schistocerca Gregaria) before, During and After Flight |journal=[[Journal of Experimental Biology]] |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=344–357 |publisher=The Company of Biologists |doi=10.1242/jeb.28.3.344 |bibcode=1951JExpB..28..344K |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/28/3/344|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Krogh's name is preserved in two items now named for him:
* [[Krogh length]], the distance between [[capillaries]] which nutrients [[diffuse]] to, based on cellular consumption of the nutrients.<ref>Fournier, R. L. ''Basic Transport Phenomena in Biomedical Engineering''. Taylor & Francis, London, 1999.</ref><ref>[http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v6/n11/abs/nmat2022.html Choi et al. Microfluidic scaffolds for tissue engineering. Nature Materials (2007) vol. 6 pp. 908-915]</ref>
* [[Krogh's principle]], that "for... a large number of problems there will be some animal of choice, or a few such animals, on which it can be most conveniently studied."<ref>Bernard, Claude. ''Introduction à l'étude de la médecine expérimentale'', J.B. Baillière et Fils, Libraires de L'Académie Impériale de Médecine, 1865. pp. 400</ref>
He via his book, ''The Anatomy and Physiology of Capillaries'', popularized the false belief that if you were to lay out all the blood vessels from a human body they would reach 100,000 km in length. He made false assumptions about cappilary density while also using a hypothetical body that weighed 140 kg with 50 kg of pure muscle, an unrealistic physique, to get his round figure of 100,000 km. Recent finding suggest that the actual figure is somewhere between 9,000–19,000 km.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Poole |first1=David C. |last2=Kano |first2=Yutaka |last3=Koga |first3=Shunsaku |last4=Musch |first4=Timothy I. |date=2021|title=August Krogh: Muscle capillary function and oxygen delivery |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology |volume=253 |article-number=110852 |doi=10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.110852 |issn=1531-4332 |pmc=7867635 |pmid=33242636}}</ref>

==Publications==
*''The Respiratory Exchange of Animals and Man'' (1916)
*''Osmotic Regulation in Aquatic Animals'' (1939)
*''The Comparative Physiology of Respiratory Mechanisms'' (1941)

==Further reading==
*{{Cite journal
| last1=Larsen | first1=E. H.
| title=August Krogh and the laboratory of animal physiology situated at Ny Vestergade 11
| journal=Ugeskrift for Laeger
| volume=163
| issue=51
| pages=7240–7248
| year=2001
| pmid=11797555
}}
*{{Cite journal
| last1=Kardel | first1=T.
| title=About the seven little devils who changed physiology. August and Marie Krogh on pulmonary gas exchange
| journal=Ugeskrift for Laeger
| volume=161
| issue=51
| pages=7112–7116
| year=1999
| pmid=10647306
}}
* Schmidt-Nielsen, Bodil, ''August and Marie Krogh. Lives in science'', American Physiological Society, New York - Oxford 1995, pp. 295
*{{Cite journal
| last1=Schmidt-Nielsen | first1=B.
| title=August and Marie Krogh and respiratory physiology
| journal=Journal of Applied Physiology: Respiratory, Environmental and Exercise Physiology
| volume=57
| issue=2
| pages=293–303
| year=1984
| pmid=6381437
| doi=10.1152/jappl.1984.57.2.293
}}
*{{cite journal|pmid=1098401|year=1975|last1=Poulsen|first1=J. E.|title=The impact of August Krogh on the insulin treatment of diabetes and our present status|journal=Acta Medica Scandinavica. Supplementum|volume=578|pages=7–14|doi=10.1111/j.0954-6820.1975.tb06497.x}}
*{{Cite journal
| last1=Dejours | first1=P.
| title=August Krogh and the physiology of respiration
| journal=Scandinavian Journal of Respiratory Diseases
| volume=56
| issue=6
| pages=337–346
| year=1975
| pmid=769148
}}
*{{Cite journal
| last1=Kenez | first1=J.
| title=The Capillaries and Krogh
| journal=Orvosi Hetilap
| volume=106
| pages=177–178
| year=1965
| pmid=14275297
}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture on December 11, 1920 ''A Contribution to the Physiology of the Capillaries''

{{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 1901-1925}}
{{1920 Nobel Prize laureates}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krogh, August}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]
[[Category:Danish Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Danish physiologists]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:People from Norddjurs Municipality]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Novo Nordisk people]]

August Krogh - Revision history

imported>Yeysus: /* Foundation of Novo Nordisk */