Nils Peter Hamberg

Who was Nils Peter Hamberg?

Nils Peter Hamberg, was a Swedish pharmacist and physician. He started teaching chemistry in 1861 and later on became a forensic chemist. Hamburg was the older brother to the missionary Knut Theodor Hamberg.

Hamberg was the son of sea captain Nicholas Hamberg and his wife Magdalena Lovisa, born Löfvenberg,. In 1830 Hamberg became a pharmacist apprentice at the pharmacy Gripen in Stockholm, in 1834 he passed the pharmaceutical entrance exams, and in 1838 he graduated as a pharmacist. In spring 1839 Hamburg bought the pharmacy Hjorten at Kungsholmen in Stockholm, which he ran until April 1850. At the same time he studied medicine and disputated 1848 for the doctorate of medicine under Göran Wahlenberg, professor in botanics at Uppsala university.

The thesis had the title "Om vegetabiliska droguers insamling och förvaring" and built on the collection of drugs from plant that Hamberg had done from 1843-1847. Interested pharmacists could buy a sample of the collection of drugs that Hamberg had created, which consisted of 337 samples and a couple synthetic.