Niels Johannes Fjord


Niels Johannes Fjord, often referred to as N. J. Fjord, was a Danish Professor at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University. He was a pioneer in dairy and milk research in mid 1800. He was a driving force and the first and the first leader of the Landøkonomisk Førsøgslaboratorium on Rolighedsvej in 1883.

Education

Born into an agrarian family, he graduated from Lyngby college at the age of 18 years. His desire to join military went futile as his father was against it. Eventually, as he moved to Aarhus for his education, he happened to meet PP Freuchen and Edward Tesdorpf whose lives influenced him to take up higher education. Freuchen, then the principal cultivated an interest in natural sciences to Niels and later, he went on to take up a teaching position in physics and mathematics.

Personal life

Fjord married Hansine Christine Magdalene Claudevitz and Karen Marie Weile, on 12 August 1859 in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen.

Memorials

A bronze statue of Gjord was unveiled in front of Landøkonomisk Forsøgslaboratorium in 1903. It was created by Aksel Hansen. Hansen had also created a bust of Fjord in 1891. An 1892 copy of the bust was created for the Royal Danish Society for Agriculture. Another copy has more recently been installed in the Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture in Foulum, Tjele, Denmark. A conference room there with his bust had been named N.J. Fjord palae.
NJ Fjordsgade skole in Aarhus is named after Niels Johannes Fjord.
The streets N. J. Fjords Allé in Frederiksberg and N.J. Fjords Gade in Aarhus are named after Niels Fjord