Johan Georg Harmenberg (born 8 September 1954 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish Olympic and world champion epee fencer.

Early and personal life

Harmenberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He completed two years of study at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) in 1975, leaving his course early (he would have graduated in 1977) before returning to Sweden, having been drafted by the Swedish army.''Mastering 'Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect'' - Joshua D. Angrist, Jörn-Steffen Pischke
/ref> He became a

biotech Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

executive and researcher. He now holds an MD and a PhD in

virology Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, th ...

from

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led Medical school, medical university in Solna Municipality, Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. ...

, Stockholm, Sweden, and has been the Chief Medical Officer of Oncopeptides AB since 2012.">"Johan Harmenberg M.D., Ph.D.: Executive Profile & Biography" - Bloomberg
/ref> In September 2019, Harmenberg joined Beactica Therapeutics, a Swedish drug discovery company, as a clinical advisor. His son Karl Harmenberg fenced epee for

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and as a junior in 2008-09 won the gold medal at the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Regionals and was selected to All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

second team.

Fencing career

He has won eight total epee gold medals in both individual and team competitions at

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, and

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

tournaments.

World Championships

He won the World Championship titles in Individual Épée and Team Épée events at the 1977 competitions in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. He also won a bronze medal in Team Épée at the 1979 World Championships in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

World Cups

Harmenberg captured three Individual Épée World Cup Championships within four years: 1977 ( Bern), 1979 ( Heidenheim), and 1980 (Heidenheim). He also won team titles at the 1977 and 1980 World Cups.

Olympics

At the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, he won a gold medal in the Individual Épée. In three of the final matches he won by only one touch. He is the only Swede to have won an individual gold medal in fencing. Harmenberg was a member of the Swedish épée team as well; the team placed 5th in the team épée competition.

Scholarship

He is the author of over 100 publications in scientific literature. Harmenberg co-authored scientific papers entitled "Fencing: Biomedical and Psychological Factors," "Comparison of different tests of fencing performance" (1991), and "Physiological and morphological characteristics of world class fencers" (1990). Harmenberg has since had a distinguished career in medical pharmacology, publishing a variety of papers relating to viral

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see the ...

. After stints as VP of pharmaceutical development at Medivir, Chief Medical officer at Algeta ASA, is currently (2014) Medical Director and VP of clinical development at Axelar AB in Stockholm, Sweden. Johan co-authored ''Épée 2.0: The Birth of the New Fencing Paradigm'', and ''Épée 2.5: The New Paradigm Revised and Augmented''.''Epee 2.5: The New Paradigm Revised and Augmented, SKA SwordPlay Books, October 2014, '' In these books, he describes the new fencing paradigm that he developed with Maestro

Eric Sollee Eric Tennyson Sollee (September 8, 1926 – June 30, 2008) was an American fencer and fencing coach. He fenced at Harvard University, where he earned National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-America honors. He coached at the Massac ...

, from MIT, which resulted in his victories and a transformation in how Épée is fenced at the higher levels of competition.

References

External links

* *
"Johan Harmenberg 50 år"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmenberg, Johan 1954 births Living people Swedish male épée fencers Olympic fencers of Sweden Fencers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in fencing Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Karolinska Institute alumni Sportspeople from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish people