Sven Gustaf Hedin (6 October 1859 – 11 July 1933) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

chemist and physiologist credited with the discovery of

histidine Histidine (symbol His or H) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated –NH3+ form under biological conditions), a carboxylic acid group (which is in the ...

. He was born in Alseda parish,

Jönköping County Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in ...

. He began his studies in 1878 and received his bachelor's degree in 1881 at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

. In 1886 he received his doctorate in philosophy and doctorate of medicine in 1893 in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, across the Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Scania County. The Öre ...

and

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

in chemistry in 1886 and became a researcher () there in 1895. From 1900 to 1907 he was made head of the pathological chemistry division at the

Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, u ...

in London, and professor of medicinal and physiological chemistry at Uppsala University in 1908. Hedin was a member of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund (1896) and the

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

(1902). Among Hedin's many scientific theses are (1886) and (1893, both in Lund University's journal), (in ''Zeitschrift für physiologische Chemie'', 1895) and other reports on the decomposition of protein in the same journal, (1897, in ''Archiv für die gesammte Physiologie''), awarded the Alvarenga Prize, ''An explanation of the influence of acid and alkali on the autolysis of organs'' (in the

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

dedicated to , 1906) along with contributions to ''

The Journal of Physiology ''The Journal of Physiology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1878 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of The Physiological Society. It covers research on all aspects of physiology, with an emphasi ...

'' and ''

Biochemical Journal The ''Biochemical Journal'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of biochemistry, as well as cell and molecular biology. It is published by Portland Press and was established in 1906. History The journal was established ...

'' regarding

trypsin Trypsin is an enzyme in the first section of the small intestine that starts the digestion of protein molecules by cutting these long chains of amino acids into smaller pieces. It is a serine protease from the PA clan superfamily, found in the d ...

. Hedin was awarded the

Björkénska priset Björkénska priset is a scientific award given by Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic co ...

in 1912. He was the father-in-law of professor

Harald Riesenfeld Ernst Harald Riesenfeld (8 February 1913 – 9 July 2008) was a Swedish theologian and Bible scholar, best known for his exegesis of the New Testament. Biography Riesenfeld was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, to Ernst Riesenfeld and Joh ...

and uncle of literary historian . Hedin died in UppsalaSveriges Dödbok SDB 1860–2016, USB, Version 7.10, Sveriges Släktforskarförbund (2016). and is buried in Uppsala Old Cemetery.

References

{{authority control 1859 births 1933 deaths Swedish chemists Burials at Uppsala old cemetery