Nils Andreas Sørensen (8 December 1909 – 8 June 1987) was a Norwegian chemist and professor of

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

at the Norwegian Technical College in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Early life and education

Nils Andreas Sørensen was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

(now Oslo), Norway. He was a son of Inge Sørensen (1875-1951) and Helene Raknerud (1879-1968), and was a grandson of newspaper editor Lars Raknerud. In 1936 he married

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

Jørgine Stene (1905–1997) with whom he had worked in the lab of nutritional chemist Sigval Schmidt-Nielsen(sv) (1877–1956).

Career

He earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in 1937 and was appointed professor of

at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

from 1939 to 1977. He published about one hundred scientific papers with a primary focus on

carbohydrates A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ma ...

carotenoids Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic compound, organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and Fungus, fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips ...

and natural

acetylene Acetylene (Chemical nomenclature, systematic name: ethyne) is a chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is u ...

compounds. In addition to the field of organic chemistry, he also contributed to botanics. He collaborated with his wife Jørgine Stene on many of his projects and they co-wrote twenty five joint publications. In 1938, the couple worked with chemist

Richard Kuhn Richard Johann Kuhn (; 3 December 1900 – 31 July 1967) was an Austrian-German biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1938 "for his work on carotenoids and vitamins". Biography Early life Kuhn was born in Vienna, Austria ...

(1900–1967) in Heidelberg on the study of

astaxanthin Astaxanthin is a keto- carotenoid within a group of chemical compounds known as carotenoids or terpenes. Astaxanthin is a metabolite of zeaxanthin and canthaxanthin, containing both hydroxyl and ketone functional groups. It is a lipid-solu ...

which resulted in a joint publication in ''Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft'' in 1939. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Sørensen was arrested by Nazi German occupying forces in 1943 and was imprisoned for two years. Sørensen was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

and the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters ({{Langx, da, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab or ''Videnskabernes Selskab'') is a Danish academy of science. The Royal Danish Academy was established on 13 November 1742, and was create ...

. He was an honorary member of Norsk Kjemisk Selskab, and received the Nansen medal for Outstanding Research. Sørensen was decorated Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1965. A sculpture of Sørensen by Johannes Block Hellum is located at the

Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...

References

1909 births 1987 deaths Scientists from Oslo Norwegian chemists Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members Falstad concentration camp survivors Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences {{norway-academic-bio-stub Order of Saint Olav