Camillus Nyrop (18 February 1811 - 24 December 1883) was a Danish instrumentmaker and bandagist. He was the founder of Camillus Nyrops Etablissement, Denmark's first manufacturer of surgical instruments and artificial limbs.

Early life and education

Nyrop was born on 18 February 1811 in Riserup on

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

, the son of provost Christopher Ntrop (1752-1831) and his second wife Cathrine Elisabeth Magdalene Heilmann (1765-1842). He was an apprentice in court turner J. G. Schwartz's workshop in 1816–22. He had already at this point started to take an interest in surgical instruments. In 1833, he was articled to J. H. Hüttemeier to improve his knowledge of metalwork while at the same time studying under

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted (; 14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Oersted ( ), was a Danish chemist and physicist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields. This phenomenon is known as ...

at the College of Advanced Technology. After that, he went abroad to further his study of surgical instruments in

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and

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before arriving in

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in 1836, where he became an apprentice to

Joseph-Frédéric-Benoît Charrière Joseph-Frédéric-Benoît Charrière (March 19, 1803 – April 28, 1876) was a Swiss-born French manufacturer of surgical instruments. Charrière was born in Cerniat, in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland. He moved to Paris at age 13, and was ...

and collaborated with leading French surgeons.

Career

Back in Copenhagen in 1838, he immediately started his own production of surgical instruments. His qualifications as an instrumentmaker and bandagist was soon noticed by the city's medical doctors and surgeons. He was in 1841 granted status of official instrumentmaker by the

Royal Danish Academy of Surgery The Royal Danish Academy of Surgery ( Danish: Det Kongelige Kirurgiske Akademi), or Academia Chirurgorum Regia, was an educational institution which existed from 1785 until 1842 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its former building at Bredgade now houses Med ...

, and in 1843, after the academy had been merged with 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. ...

's Department of Medicine, he was granted status of university instrumentmaker. He later went abroad on several occasions, both to update his knowledge of surgical instruments and to become familiar with new areas of the metal industry. In 1846–50, he operated a tool factory in a partnership with Theodor Marstrand. Nyrop was aboard member of Industriforeningen from 1843. During the

First Schleswig War The First Schleswig War (), also known as the Schleswig-Holstein uprising () and the Three Years' War (), was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig–Holstein question: who should control the Du ...

, 1848–49, he devoted himself to the development of better

artificial limb In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (congenital disorder). Prosthe ...

s for the many injured soldiers who returned from the war. Several of his inventions won him international acclaim. Towards the end of his career he increasingly focused on simplifying his surgical

armamentarium Armamentarium may refer to *Medical equipment *the Latin term for an arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owne ...

. Nyrop published'' Bandager og Instrumenter I-III'' in 1864–77.

Camillus Nyrops Etablissement

The company was based at

Købmagergade Købmagergade is a pedestrian shopping street in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. It connects Amagertorv on Strøget to Nørreport station, although the last section, north of Kultorvet, is part of Frederiksborggade, which continues on the ot ...

43. The building is from 1880 and was designed by

Ludvig Fenger Ludvig Peter Fenger (7 July 1833 – 9 March 1905) was a Danish architect. He was a proponent of the Historicist style, and from 1886 to 1904 he held the title of City Architect in Copenhagen. Among his works are several churches, the Centr ...

. The building around the corner at Løvstræde 4 was also built for the company. It was designed by

Martin Nyrop Martin Nyrop (11 November 1849 18 May 1921) was a Danish architect. Early life and education Nyrop was born on 11 November 1849 at Holmsland Municipality, Holmsland, Ringkøbing, the son of parish priest Christopher Nyrop (1805–1879) and Helen ...

Personal life and legacy

Nyrop married Karen Christine (Kamma) Andersen (5 March 1822 - 10 December 1893), the daughter of Toldbod Vinhus Hans Andersen (1792-1865) and Juliane Marie Berggreen (c. 1780-1841), on 6 July 1839 in the Garrison Church in Copenhagen. Nyrop was awarded the Medal of Merit in 1850 and amade a titular professor in 1860. He died on 24 December 1883 and is buried at the Garrison Cemetery in Copenhagen. His company, Camillus Nyrops Etablissement, was continued by two of his sons, Johan Ernst Nyrop (1850–1931) and Hans Louis Nyrop (1861-1931). It was converted into a limited company (''

aktieselskab (; abbr.: A/S or a/s, ; ) is the Danish name for a stock-based corporation. An ''aktieselskab'' may be either publicly traded or private. Liability The shareholders of an ''aktieselskab'' are not liable for the debts of the company. If an ...

'') in 1924 and merged with Hjalmar Maag A/S. His other sons were the industrial historian Camillus Nyrop (1843-1918) and the filologist Kristoffer Nyrop. Johan Ernst Nyrop's son was the founder of the Niro Atomizer

spray dryer Spray or spraying commonly refer to: * Spray (liquid drop) ** Aerosol spray ** Blood spray ** Hair spray ** Nasal spray ** Pepper spray ** PAVA spray ** Road spray or tire spray, road debris kicked up from a vehicle tire ** Sea spray, refers t ...

References

External links

Architectural renderings
for adaption of

43 for Nyrop (1873)
Furniture
by

Martin Borch Martin Borch (1 March 1852 – 8 February 1937) was a Danish architect. Biography Borch was born at Skerngaard near Skjern, Denmark. He was the son of Frederik Borch (1807–1868) and Johanne Frederikke Borch née Frausing (1809–1886). He ...

in the

Danish National Art Library The Danish National Art Library is the national research library for architecture, art history, visual arts and museology in Denmark. It was founded in 1754 as part of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and has been located at Charlottenborg' ...