Marie Krogh

Profession: Physician

Biography: Marie Krogh made significant contributions to physiology and medical science. She played a key role in the development of insulin production techniques and the founding of Novo Nordisk, a major pharmaceutical company.

Krogh began her education later than most, entering university-preparatory school in 1898. She attended the University of Copenhagen where she met her future husband, August Krogh, during a physiology class in 1904. August would later win the Nobel Prize in Physiology.

In 1907, Marie Krogh graduated with a medical degree. She then joined her husband on an expedition to Greenland to study respiration in Inuit people. The couple faced personal tragedy in 1908 when Marie gave birth to premature twins, with only one surviving.

Krogh started a medical practice in 1910 to support her family. She continued her research and earned her advanced medical degree in 1914, becoming one of the first women in Denmark to do so. Her work focused on gas exchange in the lungs, often using herself and her husband as test subjects.

In the early 1920s, Krogh developed diabetes. This led her to collaborate with her husband on insulin research. They developed a method for insulin production that became the foundation for Novo Nordisk.

Despite facing breast cancer in her later years, Krogh continued her work until her death in 1943. Her youngest daughter, Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen, followed in her footsteps and became a renowned physiologist.

Born: December 25, 1874
Birthplace: Vosegaard, Denmark
Star Sign: Capricorn

Died: March 25, 1943 (aged 68)
Cause of Death: Breast cancer