Born: 5-Jun-1862
Birthplace: Landskrona, Sweden
Died: 28-Jul-1930
Location of death: Stockholm, Sweden
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Norra Begravningsplatsen, Solna, Sweden

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Doctor

Nationality: Sweden
Executive summary: Ophthalmologist, refraction of light in the eye

Swedish ophthalmologist Allvar Gullstrand researched the way the eye refracts light, and invented the slit lamp for eye exams -- a device still used by ophthalmologists. He detailed the structure of the cornea and improved corrective lenses for people who had undergone cataract surgery, winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1911.

Though he had no formal training in physics, Gullstrand was appointed to the Nobel Committee for Physics, where he maneuvered behind the scenes to ensure that Albert Einstein never received a Nobel Prize for his theory of relativity. Gullstrand seemed to have not quite understood Einstein's theory, doubted its accuracy, and described it as being "of little significance". Einstein was honored with a Nobel Prize in 1921, but it was for his study of photoelectric effects.

Father: Pehr Alfred Gullstrand (physician, b. 1825, d. 1892)
Mother: Sofia Mathilda Korsell Gullstrand
Wife: Signe Christina Breitholtz (b. 4-Oct-1862, m. 1885, d. 17-Sep-1946, one daughter)

    University: University of Uppsala (1885)
    University: Ophthalmology, University of Stockholm (1888)
    Medical School: MD Ophthalmology, University of Stockholm (1890)
    Teacher: Ophthalmology, University of Stockholm (1891-94)
    Professor: Ophthalmology, University of Uppsala (1894-1913)
    Professor: Physical and Physiological Optics, University of Uppsala (1914-27, then Professor Emeritus)

    Nobel Prize for Medicine 1995
    Swedish Ancestry

Author of books:
Contribution to the theory of astigmatism (1890, thesis)
The real optical illustration (1906, research)
Facts and fictions in the theory of the optical image (1907, research)
The optical illustration in heterogeneous media (1908, research)
The lattice diffraction of points of view of the geometrical optics (1914, textbook)
The general optical imaging system (1915, textbook)

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