Born: 15-Dec-1860
Birthplace: Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, Denmark
Died: 25-Sep-1904
Location of death: Copenhagen, Denmark
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Vestre Kirkegard, Copenhagen, Denmark

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Doctor

Nationality: Denmark
Executive summary: Light therapy for lupus

Suffered from Pick's disease, causing enlargement of membranes inside the liver. This disease made him progressively an invalid, and he determined sunlight was beneficial to his well-being. Unsatisfied with sunlight as anecdotal treatment, he determined to find scientific basis for it, and studied light as regards to animals, and as a way of treating Lupus using ultraviolet. He founded the Finsen Institute in 1896, which received half of his Nobel prize money. His "phototherapy" has since gone into decline, now that other treatments are available.

Father: Hannes Steingrim Finsen
Mother: Johanne Fröman
Wife: Ingeborg Balslev (b. 1868, four children)
Son: Halldor (physician, b. 1896)
Daughter: Gudrun (b. 1900)
Daughter: Valgerda (b. 1903)

    University: University of Copenhagen (1890)
    Professor: Anatomy, University of Copenhagen (1890-93)

    Nobel Prize for Medicine 1903
    Icelandic Ancestry

Author of books:
La Photothérapie (1899)

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