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The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Finsen, Niels R. Clippings, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Niels Ryberg Finsen was born on December 15, 1860 in the Faroe Islands. He received his early education in Denmark, before moving to Reykjavik, Iceland in 1876. Finsen studied medicine in Copenhagen from 1882 to 1890, and was subsequently a prosector of anatomy at the University of Copenhagen until 1893.
Among his research interests was the development of clinical techniques for treating lupus vulgaris using what he calls “concentrated chemical rays,” and for his work in phototherapy Finsen received the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1903. He donated much of the award to the Finsen Institute (established in Copenhagen in 1896 and currently the Finsen Laboratory of Copenhagen University Hospital) and a sanitarium he had founded.
In 1892 Finsen married Ingeborg Balslev (1868-1963), and they had four children. From as early as 1883 Finsen suffered from heart trouble, ascites, and other illnesses, and he spent much of his final years in a wheelchair. Niels Finsen died on September 24, 1904.
A collection of newspaper clippings, as well as a few articles in codex, on Niels Finsen. The material dates from 1894 to 1907, although many are undated. The bulk of the material is related to his death in 1904. The collection is separated into two boxes by size, and is not further organized by theme, source, or date. Articles in codex are grouped in Box 1, Folder 1.
All materials are in Danish.
The collection’s call number in the John Crerar Library was L610.9228 B52