Niels Ryberg Finsen was born on December 15, 1860, and died on September 24, 1904. He was a doctor and scientist. In 1903, he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his work in treating diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, using concentrated light radiation. His research created new opportunities for medical science.

Biography

Niels Finsen was born in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, as the second-oldest of four children. His father was Hannes Finsen, who came from an Icelandic family with traditions dating back to the 10th century. His mother was Johanne Formann from Falster, Denmark.

In 1858, the family moved to Tórshavn when his father was given a government position. When Niels was four years old, his mother died, and his father married her cousin, Birgitte Kirstine Formann. They had six children together. In 1871, his father became a leader of the Faroe Islands. His father served in the Faroese parliament for 12 years, and his older brother, Olaf Finsen, also served in the parliament for five years. Olaf later became the first mayor of Tórshavn.

Niels received his early education in Tórshavn but was sent to a Danish boarding school called Herlufsholm in 1874. His older brother, Olaf, was also a student there. Niels struggled at the school, and the principal described him as "a boy of good heart but low skills and energy." Because of his poor grades and difficulty with the Danish language, he was sent to Iceland in 1876 to attend his father’s old school, Lærði skólinn, in Reykjavík. He graduated at age 21, finishing 11th out of 15 students.

In 1882, Finsen moved to Copenhagen to study medicine at the University of Copenhagen. He graduated in 1890. Because he had studied in Iceland before moving to Copenhagen, he was admitted to Regensen, a prestigious college dormitory in Denmark. At the time, Danish government policy prioritized admitting people from Iceland and the Faroe Islands to help integrate their educated leaders with university students in Copenhagen. After graduating, he became a prosector of anatomy at the university. He left this job after three years to focus on scientific research. In 1898, he was given a professorship, and in 1899, he was honored with a knighthood by the Danish government.

The Finsen Institute was founded in 1896, with Finsen as its first director. Later, it was merged into Copenhagen University Hospital and now functions as a cancer research laboratory specializing in proteolysis.

Finsen suffered from Niemann–Pick disease, which led him to study the effects of sunlight on the body. He developed a theory of phototherapy, suggesting that certain types of light can have healing effects. His most important writings were Finsen Om Lysets Indvirkninger paa Huden ("On the Effects of Light on the Skin"), published in 1893, and Om Anvendelse i Medicinen af koncentrerede kemiske Lysstraaler ("The Use of Concentrated Chemical Light Rays in Medicine"), published in 1896. These works were later translated into German and French. Later, he studied the effects of sodium chloride, publishing his findings in 1904 as En Ophobning af Salt i Organismen ("An Accumulation of Salt in the Organism").

Finsen won the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1903 for his work on phototherapy. He was the first Scandinavian to win the prize and remains the only Faroese Nobel Laureate in physiology. In 1904, he was also awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics by the University of Edinburgh.

Finsen married Ingeborg Balslev (1868–1963) on December 29, 1892.

Finsen’s health began to decline in the mid-1880s. He experienced heart problems, ascites, and general weakness. Despite his physical condition, he continued working from a wheelchair. He died in Copenhagen on September 24, 1904. His autopsy found that echinococcosis contributed to his death. Accounts of his funeral are available at the National Library of Medicine.

Memorials

The Finsen Laboratory at Copenhagen University Hospital is named after him. Finsensvej in Frederiksberg is also named after him, as is the Finsen Power Station, which was located on the north side of the street.

A large memorial to Finsen, created by Rudolph Tegner, was placed next to Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen in 1909. The sculpture shows a man standing naked, with two women kneeling and reaching upward toward the sky, and a third woman standing behind the man. The sculpture is called Mod lyset (Towards the Light) and represents Finsen’s main scientific idea that sunlight can help heal. It is located at the corner of Blegdamsvej and Nørre Allé.

In Tórshavn, there is also a memorial to Finsen. One of the city’s main streets, Niels Finsens gøta, is named after him. Kommunuskúlin, the old public school in central Tórshavn, was rebuilt for student housing and now has the name Finsen.