Johan Fredrik Gram (14 April 1868 – 27 December 1947) was a Norwegian chemist.

Personal life

He was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Konne ...

as a son of

Jens Gram Jens Gram (15 November 1840 – 22 January 1912) was a Norwegian industrialist. Personal life He was born in Ask as a son of Johan Georg Boll Gram and Fredrikke Severine Mathea Stabell. He was a brother of Andrea Gram, grandson of Jens Jensen G ...

. He was a brother of Mads Gram, a maternal grandson of

P. A. Munch Peter Andreas Munch (15 December 1810 – 25 May 1863), usually known as P. A. Munch, was a Norwegian historian, known for his work on the medieval history of Norway. Munch's scholarship included Norwegian archaeology, geography, ethnograph ...

and a paternal great-grandson of

Jens Jensen Gram Jens Jensen Gram (12 February 1779 – 2 November 1824) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. He was born in Copenhagen as the son of Jens Gram. He studied at the University of Copenhagen from 1798, and graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 180 ...

, a nephew of Andrea Gram and a second cousin of Harald Gram. His aunt Nicoline was married to

Eilif Peterssen Hjalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen (4 September 1852 – 29 December 1928) was a Norwegian painter. He is most commonly associated with his landscapes and portraits. Biography Hjalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen was born in Christiania, now Osl ...

. In October 1896 he married Elisabeth Cappe Schram. She was the older sister of his brother Mads' wife Irma.

Career

He finished his secondary education in 1887, studied in Kristiania and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, and took the dr.philos. degree in 1892 at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

. Between 1898 and 1903 he lived in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the ...

and was a co-owner of "Fredriksstad Trækulfabrik", an enterprise trying to produce charcoal from debris from the sawmills. The factory was torn down in 1903 and Gram and his family moved to Oslo. He was hired as the head chemist of the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach s ...

in December 1908. He is also known for his research on the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

at Svalbard, harvested by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani from 1916. Gram was also admitted into the exclusive skiing-based social club

SK Ull SK may refer to: Businesses and organizations * SK Foods, an American agribusiness company * SK Hand Tools, an American tool manufacturer * Sangguniang Kabataan, Philippines youth councils * SK Group, South Korean conglomerate * Scandinavian Air ...

in 1895. He served as deputy chairman from 1926 to 1928, and chairman from 1928 to 1933 and 1935 to 1940.

References

1868 births 1947 deaths Norwegian chemists Norwegian expatriates Expatriates in the German Empire People from Drammen SK Ull members {{Norway-academic-bio-stub