Henrik Nikolai Krøyer (22 March 1799 – 14 November 1870) was a Danish

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

. Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, he was a brother of the composer Hans Ernst Krøyer. He started studying medicine at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

in 1817, which he later changed to

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. While a student, he was a supporter of the

Philhellenic Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture") was an intellectual movement prominent mostly at the turn of the 19th century. It contributed to the sentiments that led Europeans such as Lord Byron, Charles Nicolas Fabvier and Richard Church (gener ...

movement, and he participated as a volunteer in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

along with several fellow students. Upon his return to Denmark, Krøyer gained an interest in zoology. In 1827, he took the position as assistant teacher in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, where he met, and later married, Bertha Cecilie Gjesdal. Bertha's sister, Ellen Cecilie Gjesdal, was deemed unfit to bring up her child, so Henrik and Bertha adopted the boy, who took on the name Peder Severin Krøyer, and later became a well-known painter. Krøyer returned to

in 1830 where he was employed as a teacher in natural history at the Military Academy. As the course lacked a textbook, Krøyer wrote and published ' (1833). During his career, he often travelled along the coasts of Denmark where he studied marine life, especially fish and

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s, and this resulted in his main work ' ("The Fish of Denmark", 3 volumes, 1838–1853). Krøyer also founded the journal ''Naturhistorisk tidsskrift'', for which he served as editor and to which he contributed numerous articles. During his life he visited most of the coasts of Western Europe as well as

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. But his health eventually deteriorated and in 1869 he had to take his leave of his position of head of the Natural Museum of Copenhagen which he had held since 1847. He gained the title of professor in 1853.

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