Henrik Gustaf Söderbaum (12 March 1862 in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

– 1933 in

Djursholm Djursholm () is one of four suburban districts in, and the seat of Danderyd Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. Djursholm is included in the multi-municipal Stockholm urban area. Djursholm is divided into a number of different areas: Djursholm ...

) was a Swedish

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

and secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1923 to 1933.Nordisk Familjebok (1926): Söderbaum, Henrik G.
Söderbaum enrolled at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

1879, and was awarded his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1888 for the thesis ''Studier öfver platooxalylföreningar'' ("Studies of platooxalyl compounds"), and was made

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...

in chemistry the same year. He was made a senior lecturer in chemistry and

chemical technology Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

at Chalmers Polytechnic Institute in Gothenburg in 1893. In 1899, he was made professor of agricultural chemistry at

Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry ( sv, Kungliga Skogs- och Lantbruksakademien), formerly the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture (''Kungl. Lantbruksakademien''), founded in 1813 at the initiative of Crown Prince Charles, is on ...

's experimental field in 1899. When the experimental field was reorganised as the Central Establishment for Agricultural Trials in 1907, he was made head of this organisation's chemical department, and remained on this post until 1923. Söderbaum's scientific activities until 1896 were devoted partially to the studies complex

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

compounds, and partially and primarily to the synthesis and investigation of

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. T ...

s of various classes. Later, he partially devoted himself to the history of chemistry, and especially to the biography of Jöns Jacob Berzelius (from 1901 he edited the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' Berzelius publications) and partially to

agricultural chemistry Agricultural chemistry is the study of chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture—agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and environmental monitoring and r ...

, where his investigations into assimilation of

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

and the action of various

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

s were seen as important. His more important works on Berzelius included ''Berzelius’ werden und wachsen 1779-1821'' ("Berzelius' formation and growth 1779-1821", in German) (1899), ''Jacob Berzelius. Själfbiografiska anteckningar'' ("Jacob Berzelius. Biographical notes") (1901), ''Jacob Berzelius. Reseanteckningar'' ("Jacob Berzelius. Travel notes") (1903) och ''Jacob Berzelius. Bref'' ("Jacob Berzelius. Letters") (volumes I-II, 1912, III, 1913, IV, 1915, V, 1918). Söderbaum was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1898, the Academy's president 1912-1913, member of the

Nobel Committee A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize. Four of these committees (for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiolo ...

for Chemistry from 1900, member of the

Royal Society of Sciences and Letters in Gothenburg The Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets-Samhället i Göteborg, abbreviated KVVS and often known simply as ''Samhället'') is a Swedish Royal Academy. Its predecessor was founded in Gothenburg ...

from 1898, member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture from 1901, and of the

Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala The Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala), is the oldest of the royal academies in Sweden, having been founded in 1710. The society has, by royal decree of 1906, 50 Swedish fellows and 100 foreign. ...

from 1921. 1918 he was made deputy secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and was the Academy's secretary from 1923 to his death in 1933. From 1925 he was a member of the board of the Nobel Foundation. Henrik Gustaf Söderbaum was father to the Swedish-German actress

Kristina Söderbaum Beata Margareta Kristina Söderbaum (5 September 1912 – 12 February 2001) was a Swedish-born German film actress, producer, and photographer. She performed in Nazi-era films made by a German state-controlled production company. Early life S� ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soderbaum, Henrik Gustaf Swedish chemists Academic staff of the Chalmers University of Technology Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 1862 births 1933 deaths Members of the Royal Society of Sciences and Letters in Gothenburg Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala