Olav Johan Sopp (né Johan Oluf Olsen; 6 October 1860 – 14 August 1931) was a Norwegian
mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...
. He was a pioneer of Norwegian and international mycological research. He was the first to suggest classifying
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
as belonging to neither
plantae
Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...
nor
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
ia, but to a third
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
. He also contributed to the development of the Norwegian
dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...
and
brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
industry.
Personal life
Sopp was born in
Hamar
Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...
as the son of tanner Johannes Bakke Olsen and Bertha Marie Omdahl. He was married to Ingeborg Marie Finckenhagen from 1889 to 1893, and to Caroline Louise Eugenie Ihlen from 1894. From the late 1880s he used the name Olav Johan-Olsen, to avoid name confusion with another person. In 1907 he changed his name to Sopp (meaning "mushroom" in Norwegian).
According to his own statement he had been nicknamed "Sop-Olsen" already as a young schoolboy.
His daughter was married to politician
Ole Colbjørnsen.
Career
After
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 Olsen studied medicine at the
Royal Frederick University of Kristiania, where he finished first part in 1882. He had developed a particular interest in mushrooms already as a younger boy. In 1883 he published a book on mushrooms, ''Spiselig sop'', which was reissued several times until 1924. From 1882 to 1885 he worked as an assistant at the institute for pathology and anatomy. He also resided with the mycologist
Oscar Brefeld in
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
. He graduated from the medical studies in 1888, and worked some years as a physician in Kristiania. In 1893 he delivered his
doctoral thesis, ''Om sop paa levende jordbund''.
[ From 1887 to 1890 he managed the physiological laboratories at the brewer ]Ringnes
Ringnes is the largest brewer in Norway. owned by the Carlsberg Group.
History
Ringnes AS was founded in 1876. The company's brewery in the Grünerløkka district of Oslo produced its first beer in 1877. The brewery was founded by brothers Amund ...
in Oslo. He also managed a factory at Toten
Toten is a traditional district in Innlandet county in the eastern part of Norway. It consists of the municipalities Østre Toten and Vestre Toten.
The combined population of Toten is approximately 27,000. The largest town is Raufoss with appro ...
, which produced condensed milk
Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of ''sweetened condensed milk'' (SCM), to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condens ...
.
In 1888 he discovered a method to produce condensed milk without sugar. He designed the items required for production, and is credited for being the founder of industrial milk conservation in Norway. The product "Viking Milk" was patented and introduced by him in 1891. The factory at Toten was taken over by the Swiss company Henri Nestlé
Henri Nestlé () (born Heinrich Nestle; 10 August 1814 – 7 July 1890) was a German-Swiss confectioner and the founder of Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company.
Early life
Heinrich Nestle was born on 10 August 1814 in Frankfu ...
in 1897, while Sopp continued as technical and scientific manager until he retired in 1925.[
Sopp was the first to suggest classifying ]fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
as belonging to neither plantae
Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...
nor animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
ia, but to a third kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
, already in his thesis ''Om sop paa levende jordbund'' from 1893,[ and in a subsequent article in the periodical '']Nyt Tidsskrift ''Nyt Tidsskrift'' is a former Norwegian literary, cultural and political periodical issued from 1882 to 1887, and with a second series from 1892 to 1895. The periodical had contributions from several of the leading intellectuals of the time, includ ...
''.[
He was decorated as a Knight of the ]Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
in 1900.[
]
Botanist abbreviation
Because he changed his name during his career in botany, Sopp has two Brummitt & Powell author abbreviations:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sopp, Olav Johan
1860 births
1931 deaths
People from Hamar
Norwegian mycologists
University of Oslo alumni