 niels ryberg finsen (december 15, 1860 â september 24, 1904) was a faroese physician and scientist of icelandic descent. he was awarded the nobel prize in medicine and physiology in 1903 "in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science."medicine 1903 at nobelprize.org ==biography== niels finsen was born in tÃ³rshavn, faroe islands, as the second-oldest of four children. his parents were hannes steingrim finsen, who belonged to an icelandic family with traditions reaching back to the 10th century, and johanne frÃ¶man, who was born and raised in iceland.http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/finsen-bio.html the family moved to tÃ³rshavn from iceland in 1858 when his father was given the position of landfoged (collector of the revenue for the whole country, treasurer or steward (icelandic: landfÃ³geti; danish: landfoged; faroese: (land)fÃºti) who receives the taxes from the sysselmand and delivers the proceeds to the stiftamtmand) of the faroe islands. when niels was four years old his mother died, and his father married his mother's cousin birgitte kirstine formann, with whom he had six children. in 1871 his father was made amtmand of the faroe islands. finsen got his early education in tÃ³rshavn, but in 1874 was sent to the danish boarding school herlufsholm, where his older brother olaf was also a student. unlike olaf, niels had a difficult stay at herlufsholm, culminating with a statement from the principal which claimed niels was "a boy of good heart but low skills and energy". as a consequence of his low grades, he was enrolled in his father's old school, lÃ¦rÃ°i skÃ³linn, in reykjavÃ­k in 1876. while studying there, his grades improved greatly. ===studies in medicine=== in 1882, finsen moved to copenhagen to study medicine at the university of copenhagen, from which he graduated in 1890. following graduation, he became a prosector of anatomy at the university. after three years, he quit the post to devote himself fully to his scientific studies. in 1898 finsen was given a professorship and in 1899 he became a knight of the order of dannebrog. the finse
1860_births 1904_deaths Danish_Nobel_laureates Danish_knights Danish_physicians Light_therapy Nobel_laureates_in_Physiology_or_Medicine People_from_TA3rshavn University_of_Copenhagen_alumni