Axel Höjer

Who is Axel Höjer?

Johan Axel Höjer was a Swedish physician and the Director General. He was the son of Professor Nils Höjer and Emmy Höjer. He began to study medicine at the Karolinska Institute in 1908 and became a Licentiate of Medicine in 1916. He went to Paris in 1919, where he became acquainted with the nurse Signe Dahl and they later married in 1920. In addition to his work and social commitment, Hojer in the early 1920s researched on vitamin C and its role in connective tissue cell maturation. He submitted his thesis in Stockholm in 1924 for PhD degree as Studies in scurvy, and then became the Associate Professor of Hygiene in the Physiological Institute at Lund University. He was appointed in 1930 as the city physician of Malmo in 1935 and then became Director General of the Medical Board, a post he left in 1952. During his time in the Medical Board, he made several reforms in terms of preventive care, including family planning, maternal assistance and care of infants as well as the dental services. Hojer was appointed in the UN's expert commission for economic affairs and in its housing commission. He was sent as a special officer for improving medical education in India on the request of Travancore-Cochin state. Hojer was apppointed as the Principal of Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala a position he served till 1954. After retirement, he worked on international issues, including the effects of the Vietnam War.