Inge Valdemar Heiberg (11 October 1861 – 1 July 1920) was a Norwegian physician who served as director of medicine in

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

from 1911 to 1920. He was born in Christiania as a son of judge Edvard Omsen Heiberg (1829–1884) and Minna Rode (1836–1917). He was a brother of

Gunnar Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

and Jakob Vilhelm Rode Heiberg, as well as a first cousin of

Eivind Eivind is a Norwegian masculine given name of Norse origin, ''Auja-winduR''. It is made up of two parts: ''Auja'' meaning "lucky/gift", and ''winduR'' meaning "winner and/or warrior". The name ''Eivind'' is also used in Denmark and Sweden, and ...

and Gustav Adolf Lammers Heiberg and a first cousin once removed of

Bernt Bernt is a Scandinavian variant of the German masculine given name Berend, which is the Low German form of Bernard (Bernhard). The name Bernhard means "strong bear" (from Old German ''bero'', "bear", and ''harti'', "strong"). Its use in Sweden was ...

, Axel and

Edvard Heiberg Edvard Heiberg (11 June 1911, in Oslo – 10 June 2000, in Oslo) was a Norwegian director and engineer. Heiberg was the youngest son of barrister Axel Heiberg (1875–1952) and his wife Ragnhild Krohg (1879–1947). He had two brothers, ...

, and uncle of

Hans Heiberg Hans Heiberg (28 January 1904 – 6 December 1978) was a Norwegian journalist, literary critic, theatre critic, essayist, novelist, playwright, translator and theatre director. Early and personal life Heiberg was born in Kristiania as son of c ...

. He took the

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 ...

in 1879 and enrolled in medicine studies. After leading a social life among the "Kristiania bohême", being engaged to

Bokken Lasson Caroline "Bokken" Lasson (7 January 1871 – 3 August 1970) was a Norwegian concert and cabaret singer. She is known for starting the Oslo cabaret Chat Noir in 1912, and also for introducing the children's song "Tuppen og Lillemor" to the Nor ...

for some years, he graduated with the

cand.med. Candidate of Medicine ( la, candidatus medicinae (male), ''candidata medicinae'' (female), abbreviated cand. med.) is an academic degree awarded in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway following a six-year medical school education. Medical students in ...

degree in 1893. He tried his luck as a general practitioner in Aalesund, but quit after three years. He was hired as a physician in

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

(from 1908:

) in 1897, and remained here until 1920, except for a study leave at the

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a higher education institution with degree awarding powers and registered charity located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Established in 1898, it was the first institution in the world dedicated ...

(LSTM) in 1902–03. He assisted an LSTM team that arrived in the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

on 23 September 1903 to assess public health, and sleeping sickness (

African trypanosomiasis African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...

) in particular. The members were

Cuthbert Christy Cuthbert Christy (1863 – 29 May 1932) was an English doctor and zoologist who undertook extensive explorations of Central Africa during the first part of the 20th century. He was known for his work on sleeping sickness, and for the Christy Repo ...

Joseph Everett Dutton Joseph Everett Dutton (9 September 1874 – 27 February 1905) was a British parasitologist who discovered one of the trypanosomes that cause sleeping sickness. He died in the Congo Free State at the age of 30 from tick fever, or African relapsing ...

and

John Lancelot Todd John Lancelot Todd (10 September 1876 – 27 August 1949) was a Canadian physician and parasitologist. Early years John Lancelot Todd was born on 10 September 1876 in Victoria, British Columbia. He was of Anglo-Irish origins. His father was Jacob ...

. The team spent nine months in the Lower Congo, then on 30 June 1904 began investigating upstream as far as

Kasongo Kasongo, also known as Piani Kasongo, is a town and a Territory, located in the Maniema Province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Geography Kasongo lies east of the Lualaba River, northwest of its confluence with the Luama River ...

. In Congo, he lived in Lado and

Ibembo Ibembo is a village on the Itimbiri River in the Tshopo Tshopo is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. It is situated in the north central part of the country on the Tshopo ...

before moving to Boma when promoted to ''Médicin en chef'' (director of medicine) in 1911. Among his professional endeavors was to fight the "sleeping sickness", but he also believed a certain degree of corporal punishment of the natives to be necessary as a part of disciplining and civilizing. He was also a benefactor and item collector for the

Ethnographic Museum Ethnographic museums conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include: List by country/region Albania * Ethnographic Museum of Kavajë, * Gjirokast� ...

in Norway's capital. He also contributed to a lesser degree to the Zoological Museum. For his contributions, he was decorated as a Knight, First Class of 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 ...

in 1908. He was unmarried. In 1920 he retired, and moved home to Norway where he died the same year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiberg, Inge 1861 births 1920 deaths Norwegian tropical physicians Norwegian expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Belgian Congo officials 19th-century Norwegian physicians 20th-century Norwegian physicians Congo Free State people