Frithiof Holmgren
{{Short description|Swedish physiologist (1831–1897)}}
File:Portrait of Alarik Frithiof Holmgren by CM. Wellcome M0020260.jpg
Alarik Frithiof Holmgren (October 22, 1831 – August 14, 1897) was a Swedish physician, physiologist and professor at Upsala University, most noted for his research of color blindness. He was a vocal opponent of vivisection, and particularly the use of curare to immobilize subjects so they appeared peaceful while enduring great pain.{{cite web|url= http://k-arv.se/posts/193|title= Alarik Frithiof Holmgren, 1831-1897|publisher =Kulturarv Östergötland|author= Leif Wallentinsson|date= February 2017|accessdate=December 1, 2018}}
File:Holmgren's coloured wool test for colour blindness, Europe, Wellcome L0058974.jpg
Biography
Holmgren was born in Östergötland, Sweden. From 1852 he served as a medial practitioner including during the cholera pandemic in Norrköping and Söderköping. He graduated as a Medical Doctor from Uppsala University in 1861. He joined the faculty of Uppsala University and in 1864, was appointed professor of physiology. He researched color blindness and his most notable work was about color blindness in relation to rail and sea transport. His research took him to London, Berlin, Vienna and Paris. He devised a standardized test, now known as Holmgren's wool test, for color blindness testing in 1874.{{cite web |title=Holmgren's coloured wool test for colour blindness, Europe, 1871-1900 {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co153184/holmgrens-coloured-wool-test-for-colour-blindness-europe-1871-1900-colour-blindness-test |website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk |language=en}} Following a railway crash at Lagerlunda in 1875, he advocated the need to preclude people with defective color vision from railway employment. This established the now standard practice of excluded color blind individuals from employment in certain sectors.Algis J. Vingrys; Barry L. Cole [https://archive.today/20130105084749/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119851048/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Origins of Colour Vision Standards within the Transport Industry] Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, October 1986 Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 369-375, 198{{cite web|url= https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=13748|title= A Frithiof Holmgren|publisher =Svenskt biografiskt lexikon
|author= Ragnar Granit|accessdate=December 1, 2018}}
Personal life
Holmgren was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1880. In 1869, he was married to the suffragist Ann-Margret Holmgren (1850–1940). They were the parents of eight children. Both he and his wife were buried at Uppsala old cemetery.{{cite web |url= http://ergo.ronne.se/E1998N13.html |title= Ett professorspar före sin tid |publisher= ergo.ronne.se |author= Marta & Erik Ronne |accessdate= December 1, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160327082033/http://ergo.ronne.se/E1998N13.html |archive-date= March 27, 2016 |url-status= dead }}{{cite journal|title= Obituary: Alarik Frithiof Holmgren, M.D.|journal = British Medical Journal |volume = 2|pmc=2407621|issue=1916|page=748|year=1897|doi = 10.1136/bmj.2.1916.748}}
See also
References
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External links
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Frithiof Holmgren |sopt=t}}
- Holmgren's (1877) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/25105 De la cécité des couleurs dans ses rapports avec les chemins de fer et la marine] - digital facsimile at the Linda Hall Library
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Category:Swedish anti-vivisectionists
Category:People from Östergötland County
Category:Uppsala University alumni
Category:Academic staff of Uppsala University
Category:19th-century Swedish physicians
Category:Swedish physiologists
Category:Swedish medical researchers
Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Category:Burials at Uppsala old cemetery
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