Henrik Nikolai Krøyer

Who was Henrik Nikolai Krøyer?

Henrik Nikolai Krøyer was a Danish zoologist.

Born in Copenhagen, he was a brother of the composer Hans Ernst Krøyer. He started studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen in 1817, which he later changed to history and philology. While a student he was a supporter of the Philhellenic movement, and he participated as a volunteer in the Greek War of Independence along with several fellow students.

Upon his return to Denmark, Krøyer gained an interest in zoology. In 1827, he took the position as assistant teacher in Stavanger, where he met and later married Bertha Cecilie Gjesdal. Bertha's sister, Ellen Cecilie Gjesdal, was deemed unfit to bring up her child, so Henrik and Bertha adopted the boy, who took on the name Peder Severin Krøyer, and later became a well known painter.

Krøyer returned to Copenhagen in 1830 where he was employed as a teacher in natural history at the Military Academy. As the course lacked a textbook, Krøyer wrote and published Grundtræk til Vejledning ved naturhistorisk Undervisning.