August Krogh
August Krogh
Born	November 15, 1874 (1874-11-15)
Died	September 13, 1949 (1949-09-14)
Nationality	Danish
Fields	Zoophysiology
Institutions	University of Copenhagen Duke University
Known for	Krogh Principle[1]
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Schack August Steenberg Krogh FRS^[2] (November 15, 1874 – September 13, 1949) was a Danish professor at the department of zoophysiology at the University of Copenhagen from 1916-1945.^[3][4][5] He contributed a number of fundamental discoveries within several fields of physiology, and is famous for developing the Krogh Principle.^[6][7][8]

In 1920 August Krogh was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the mechanism of regulation of the capillaries in skeletal muscle.^[9][10] Krogh was first to describe the adaptation of blood perfusion in muscle and other organs according to demands through opening and closing the arterioles and capillaries.

Krogh was a pioneer in comparative studies on animals. He wrote his thesis on the respiration through the skin and lungs in frogs: Respiratory Exchange of Animals, 1915. Later Krogh took on studies of water and electrolyte homeostasis of aquatic animals and he published the books: Osmotic Regulation (1939) and Comparative Physiology of Respiratory Mechanisms (1941). In addition Krogh contributed more than 200 research articles in international journals. He was a constructor of scientific instruments of which several had considerable practical importance, e.g. the spirometer and the apparatus for measuring basal metabolic rate.

Krogh brought insulin to Denmark shortly after its discovery in 1922 by Nicolae Paulescu.^{[citation needed]} Together with Hagedorn, Krogh made decisive contributions to establishing a Danish production of insulin by ethanol extraction of the hormone from the pancreatic glands of pigs.^{[citation needed]}

Much of Krogh's work was carried out in collaboration with his wife, Marie Krogh (1874–1943), a renowned scientist in her own right.

In 1910 August Krogh founded the first laboratory for animal physiology (zoophysiology) at the University of Copenhagen.^{[chronology citation needed]} It was located in a small townhouse in central Copenhagen (at Ny Vestergade 11). The laboratory was considerably enlarged in 1928, when it moved to a new building at Juliane Maries Vej 28-32 called The Rockefeller Complex (it was financed by the Rockefeller Foundation).^{[chronology citation needed]} The building also gave place to the institutes of medical physiology and biophysics, and to the institute for the theory of gymnastics (exercise physiology). Today, the disciplines of animal physiology, exercise physiology, and some of the biochemical subdisciplines under the Faculty of Science are based at the August Krogh Institute, a building inaugurated in 1970.^{[chronology citation needed]} August and Marie had four children, the youngest of whom, Bodil, was born in 1918.^{[chronology citation needed]} Bodil married an eminent physiologist, Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, in 1939 and had three children.^{[chronology citation needed]} She received her Dental degree in 1941, was the first recipient of a Doctor in Odontology in 1946, and her PhD in 1955, all from the University of Copenhagen.^{[chronology citation needed]} Knut and Bodil moved to America and each had independently prominent physiology careers at prestigious universities, including Duke University, and were well known for their many students who became leaders in the field.

Torkel Weis-Fogh, an eminent pioneer on the study of insect flight, was a student of August Krogh's.

(description partly taken from Copenhagen University)

See also[link]

• Krogh length
• Krogh Principle
• Comparative physiology

References[link]

1. ^ Krebs, H. A. (1975). "The August Krogh principle: "For many problems there is an animal on which it can be most conveniently studied"". Journal of Experimental Zoology 194 (1): 221–226. DOI:10.1002/jez.1401940115. PMID 811756.  edit
2. ^ Hill, A. V. (1950). "August Schack Steenberg Krogh. 1874-1949". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 7 (19): 220. DOI:10.1098/rsbm.1950.0014.  edit
3. ^ Drinker, C. K. (1950). "August Krogh: 1874-1949". Science 112 (2900): 105–107. DOI:10.1126/science.112.2900.105. PMID 15442251.  edit
4. ^ Liljestrand, G. (1950). "August Krogh". Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 20 (2–3): 109–116. DOI:10.1111/j.1748-1716.1950.tb00688.x. PMID 15413515.  edit
5. ^ "Deaths of C. M. Wenyon, Clifford Dobell and A. Krogh". Comptes rendus des seances de la Societe de biologie et de ses filiales 144 (3–4): 160–161. 1950. PMID 15420871.  edit
6. ^ "August Krogh (1874-1949) the physiologist's physiologist". JAMA: the Journal of the American Medical Association 199 (7): 496–497. 1967. PMID 5335475.  edit
7. ^ Hurst, J. W.; Fye, W. B.; Zimmer, H. G. (2006). "August Krogh". Clinical Cardiology 29 (5): 231–233. DOI:10.1002/clc.4960290514. PMID 16739398.  edit
8. ^ Rehberg, P. B. (1951). "August Krogh : November 15, 1874—September 13, 1949". The Yale journal of biology and medicine 24 (2): 83–102. PMC 2599127. PMID 14901880. //www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2599127.  edit
9. ^ Larsen, E. H. (2007). "August Krogh (1874-1949): 1920 Nobel Prize". Ugeskrift for laeger 169 (35): 2878. PMID 17877986.  edit
10. ^ Sulek, K. (1967). "Nobel prize for August Krogh in 1920 for his discovery of regulative mechanism in the capillaries". Wiadomosci lekarskie (Warsaw, Poland : 1960) 20 (19): 1829. PMID 4870667.  edit

External links[link]

• Larsen, E. H. (2001). "August Krogh and the laboratory of animal physiology situated at Ny Vestergade 11". Ugeskrift for laeger 163 (51): 7240–7248. PMID 11797555.  edit
• Kardel, T. (1999). "About the seven little devils who changed physiology. August and Marie Krogh on pulmonary gas exchange". Ugeskrift for laeger 161 (51): 7112–7116. PMID 10647306.  edit
• Schmidt-Nielsen, B. (1984). "August and Marie Krogh and respiratory physiology". Journal of applied physiology: respiratory, environmental and exercise physiology 57 (2): 293–303. PMID 6381437.  edit
• Poulsen, J. E. (1975). "The impact of August Krogh on the insulin treatment of diabetes and our present status". Acta medica Scandinavica. Supplementum 578: 7–14. PMID 1098401.  edit
• Dejours, P. (1975). "August Krogh and the physiology of respiration". Scandinavian journal of respiratory diseases 56 (6): 337–346. PMID 769148.  edit
• Kenez, J. (1965). "The Capillaries and Krogh". Orvosi hetilap 106: 177–178. PMID 14275297.  edit

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: August Krogh

• August Krogh biography on Nobel Prize website
• Schack August Steenberg Krogh