Frederik Holst (14 August 1791 – 4 June 1871) was a Norwegian medical doctor. He is regarded as an important pioneer in medicine in Norway.

Biography

Holst was born at

Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). ...

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

, Norway. He was the son of merchant Hans Holst (1763–1846) and Inger Christine Backer (1765–1850). He completed his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian language, Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",

in 1810. He studied at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and earned his medical diploma based upon his doctoral thesis about the then-common and now-extinct skin disease ', known in Latin as (1817). He was appointed

city physician City physician (German: ; , , from Latin ) was a historical title in the Late Middle Ages for a physician appointed by the city council. The city physician was responsible for the health of the population, particularly the poor, and the sanitary ...

() in Christiania (now Oslo) from 1817. He was Professor of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Hygiene at the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(now University of Oslo) from 1824 until 1865. His works had significant influence on the treatment of

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

ers and of patients with

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

s. Together with

Michael Skjelderup Michael Skjelderup (22 October 1769 – 16 April 1852) was a Norway, Norwegian physician and educator. Skjelderup was born in the parish of Hof, Vestfold, Hof in Vestfold, Norway. He graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Surgery (1794) an ...

, he started and published ''Eyrt'', the first Norwegian medical journal (1826). In 1831, he was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

. He was one of the founders of the

Norwegian Medical Society The Norwegian Medical Society ( no, Det norske medicinske Selskab, la, Societas Medica Norvegica) is a medical organisation in Norway. It has its roots in an informal group created in 1826, which subscribed to and shared foreign medical journa ...

in Oslo (1833).

Personal life

He was made a knight in the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

(1847), Commander of St. Olav's Order (1865) and Commander of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

. In 1824, he married Dorothea Christierne Steffens (1805–1866). Holst was the grandfather of linguist Clara Holst and professor

Axel Holst Axel Holst (6 September 1860 – 26 April 1931) was a Norwegian Professor of Hygiene and Bacteriology at the University of Oslo. He was most known for his contributions to the study of the treatment of Beriberi and Scurvy. Biography Holst was bor ...

References

1791 births 1871 deaths People from Vestfold People educated at Oslo Cathedral School University of Copenhagen alumni 19th-century Norwegian physicians Academic staff of the University of Oslo Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star {{Norway-med-bio-stub