Max Henius (June 16, 1859 – November 15, 1935) was a Danish-American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological che ...

who specialized in the fermentation processes. Max Henius co-founded the American Academy of Brewing in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Background

Henius was born in

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of ...

, Denmark. His parents were Emilie (''née'' Wasserzug; 1839–1913) and Isidor Henius (1820–1901), both

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the l ...

immigrants. His father, who was born in Thorn,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

, now Torun,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, emigrated to Denmark in 1837 and continued his work for spirits distillers to improve and standardise production and later – on January 15, 1846 – co-founded one distillery, ''Aalborg priviligerede Sirup- og Spritfabrik'', that was later, together with several other distilleries, consolidated into De Danske Spritfabrikker in 1881, a Danish distillery which – since 2012 – is part of the Norwegian Arcus Group, which closed the distillery in Aalborg in 2015, moving production to Norway instead. Isidor Henius also owned a small castle in Aalborg, now called ''Sohngaardsholm Slot''. Since 2005, it has been the site of a gourmet restaurant. Max Henius was educated at the Aalborg Latin School and went on to study at the Polytechnic Institute in

Hanover, Germany Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

He attended the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the worl ...

, earning 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 a ...

degree in chemistry during 1881. His father sold the distillery that same year. Max Henius subsequently emigrated from

to the United States in 1881 at the age of 22, settling in Chicago. His younger brother, Erik S. Henius, (1863–1926) remained in Denmark where he was Chairman of the Danish Export Association. He had another brother,

Louis Henius Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewi ...

(1870-1938), who was the grandfather of author Suzanne Brøgger.

Career

Initially he was employed by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, w ...

on an assignment to test the waters between

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

, and

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of ...

. In 1886, he opened a drug store. Subsequently he formed Wahl & Henius, an institute for chemical and mechanical analysis, with his former schoolmate, Robert Wahl (1858–1937). Founded in 1891, the Chicago-based American Brewing Academy (later known as the Wahl-Henius Institute of Fermentology) was one of the premier brewing schools of the pre-prohibition era. This institute was later expanded with a brew master school that operated until 1921, after the passage of the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...

in 1919. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Max Henius became interested in Danish-American organizations in Chicago. Funds were being raised by Danish Americans to purchase of heather-covered hills, located in part of Rold Forest (Danish: ''Rold Skov''), Denmark's largest forest. In 1912 Max Henius presented the deed to H.M.

King Christian X Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, in the form of a personal union rathe ...

as a permanent memorial from Danish Americans. Rebild National Park (Danish:''Rebild Bakker'') is today a Danish national park situated near the town of

Skørping Skørping is a railway town in Rebild Municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as ''Himmerland'' in northern Denmark. The modern town has a population of 2,971 as of 1 January 2022;Rebild municipality,

Region Nordjylland The North Jutland Region ( da, Region Nordjylland), or in some official sources, the North Denmark Region, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which abolished the tra ...

in northern

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

. Every July 4 since 1912, except during the two world wars, large crowds have gathered in the heather-covered hills of Rebild to celebrate

American Independence Day Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on Ju ...

. On the slope north of Rebild, where the residence of Max Henius was once located, a bust was placed in his memory.

Personal life

He married Danish-born Johanne Louise Heiberg (1860–1934) on June 4, 1883. She was daughter of MD Emil Theodor Heiberg and Johanne (Hanne) Henriette Jacoba Schmidt. They had three children, Henry, Emil, and Gerda. Their great-grandchildren include actors

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series ''Deadwood' ...

Robert Carradine Robert Reed Carradine ( ; born March 24, 1954) is an American actor. A member of the Carradine family, he made his first appearances on television Western series such as ''Bonanza'' and his brother David's TV series, '' Kung Fu''. Carradine's f ...

, Christopher Carradine, and Michael Bowen.

Selected works

*''American liquor code, an outline'' (1933) *''Stepping stones from prohibition'' (1932) *''The error in the National prohibition act'' (1931) *''Modern liquor legislation and systems in Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden'' (1931) *''Danish beer & continental beer gardens'' (1914) *''Den danskfødte Amerikaner'' (1912) *''American Handy-Book of the Brewing, Malting and Auxiliary Trades'' jointly with Robert Wahl (1901)

References

Primary sources

*''Max Henius, a biography'' (by Max Henius Memoir Committee. Chicago, 1936)

External links

Rebild National Park Society, Inc.Sohngaardsholmslot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henius, Max 1859 births 1935 deaths American people of Polish-Jewish descent American biochemists Danish emigrants to the United States Danish Jews Danish people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish American scientists People from Aalborg Scientists from Chicago Northern Pacific Railway people American brewers American pharmacists