Johannes Frederik Johnstrup (12 March 1818– 31 December 1894) was a Danish professor,

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

. He was the founder of the Danish scientific periodical ''

Meddelelser om Grønland ''Meddelelser om Grønland'' ("''Communications on Greenland''") is a Danish scientific journal, scientific periodical which publishes scientific results from all fields of research on Greenland. It was established by Frederik Johnstrup and publi ...

''.

Biography

Johnstrup was born at

Christianshavn Christianshavn () is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of the city centre by the Inner Harbour, ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He attended the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and it is today ran ...

where he received

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in 1844. He became an associate professor of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

Sorø Academy Sorø Academy ( Danish: ''Sorø Akademi'') is a boarding school and gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by ...

in 1846. When the academy closed in 1848, he became assistant lecturer in

Kolding Kolding () is a Denmark, Danish seaport city located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre and has numerous industria ...

. Three years later, he taught in

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,433 (2025).

and in 1866, he became professor of mineralogy and geology at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and the Polytechnic Institution. Johnstrup made several geological exploration voyages; 1871 and 1876 in Iceland, 1872 in the Faroe Islands and 1874 in Greenland. In 1876, he led the expedition to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

to study

Askja Askja () is an active volcano situated in a remote part of the central highlands of Iceland. The name Askja refers to a complex of nested calderas within the surrounding Dyngjufjöll mountains, which rise to , ''askja'' meaning ''box'' or ' ...

and the volcanoes at

Mývatn Mývatn () is a shallow lake situated in an area of active volcanism in the north of Iceland, near Krafla volcano. It has a high amount of biological activity. The lake and the surrounding wetlands provides a habitat for a number of waterbirds, ...

with

Þorvaldur Thoroddsen Þorvaldur Thoroddsen (6 June 1855 – 28 September 1921) was an Icelandic geologist and geographer. Biography Þorvaldur was the son of the writer Jón Thoroddsen. He graduated from the Learned School of Reykjavík in 1875 and then immediatel ...

(1855–1921) as his guide. In 1878, with Heinrich Rink, Johnstrup founded the governmental institution, Commission for the Direction of Geological and Geographical Investigations in Greenland. He was the founder of the scientific periodical ''Meddelelser om Grønland'' which was established in 1878. In 1888, he led the Geological Survey of Denmark. In 1893, He developed the University of Copenhagen Geological Museum, and led the construction of a new building on Øster Voldgade in Copenhagen. Johnstrup authored a number of treatises by which he greatly promoted the understanding of Denmark's geological conditions, particularly the glacial phenomena. In 1894, he became an honorary doctorate at the university. In 1892 became a Commander First Class of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

References

1818 births 1894 deaths Scientists from Copenhagen 19th-century Danish geologists Danish paleontologists Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Technical University of Denmark alumni Academic staff of the Technical University of Denmark Commanders First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog {{paleontologist-stub