Frederik Paulsen Sr

Who was Frederik Paulsen Sr?

Dr Frederik Paulsen Sr was a Medical Doctor and the founder of Ferring Pharmaceuticals.

Friedrich Paulsen was born in the tiny port hamlet of Dagebüll on the North Frisian coast. Both his parents originated from the neighbouring island of Föhr.

In 1933 during his studies at Kiel Paulsen suffered from harassments and threats by the National Socialists due to his opposing political believes. Therefore he fled to Malmö, Sweden via Basel in Switzerland to avoid his internment at a concentration camp. In Sweden, whose citizen he became in 1941, he laid the foundation for the establishment of FERRING by his research on hormones and their synthentical production. Upon accepting the Swedish citizenship he changed his given name Friedrich to Frederik.

After his withdrawal from the company's management he died in 1997 at the age of 87 in Alkersum on Föhr. His son Frederik Paulsen Jr is an established businessman, academic, philanthropist and explorer.