The Most Famous
PHYSICIANS from Sweden
This page contains a list of the greatest Swedish Physicians. The pantheon dataset contains 502 Physicians, 8 of which were born in Sweden. This makes Sweden the birth place of the 19th most number of Physicians behind Hungary and Czechia.
Top 8
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Swedish Physicians of all time. This list of famous Swedish Physicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Allvar Gullstrand (1862 - 1930)
With an HPI of 68.17, Allvar Gullstrand is the most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 64 different languages on wikipedia.
Allvar Gullstrand (5 June 1862 – 28 July 1930) was a Swedish ophthalmologist and optician.
2. Arvid Carlsson (1923 - 2018)
With an HPI of 63.70, Arvid Carlsson is the 2nd most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 49 different languages.
Arvid Carlsson (25 January 1923 – 29 June 2018) was a Swedish neuropharmacologist who is best known for his work with the neurotransmitter dopamine and its effects in Parkinson's disease. For his work on dopamine, Carlsson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000, together with Eric Kandel and Paul Greengard.
3. Ulf von Euler (1905 - 1983)
With an HPI of 61.40, Ulf von Euler is the 3rd most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 49 different languages.
Ulf Svante von Euler (7 February 1905 – 9 March 1983) was a Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 for his work on neurotransmitters.
4. Hans Rosling (1948 - 2017)
With an HPI of 59.93, Hans Rosling is the 4th most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.
Hans Rosling (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈhɑːns ˈrûːslɪŋ]; 27 July 1948 – 7 February 2017) was a Swedish physician, academic and public speaker. He was a professor of international health at Karolinska Institute and was the co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. He held presentations around the world, including several TED Talks in which he promoted the use of data (and data visualization) to explore development issues. His posthumously published book Factfulness, coauthored with his daughter-in-law Anna Rosling Rönnlund and son Ola Rosling, became an international bestseller.
5. Thomas Bartholin (1616 - 1680)
With an HPI of 57.29, Thomas Bartholin is the 5th most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Thomas Bartholin (; Latinized as Thomas Bartholinus; 20 October 1616 – 4 December 1680) was a Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian. He discovered the lymphatic system in humans and advanced the theory of refrigeration anesthesia, being the first to describe it scientifically. Thomas Bartholin came from a family that has become famous for its pioneering scientists, twelve of whom became professors at the University of Copenhagen. Three generations of the Bartholin family made significant contributions to anatomical science and medicine in the 17th and 18th centuries: Thomas Bartholin's father, Caspar Bartholin the Elder (1585–1629), his brother Rasmus Bartholin (1625–1698), and his son Caspar Bartholin the Younger (1655–1738). Thomas Bartholin's son Thomas Bartholin the Younger (1659–1690) became a professor of history at the University of Copenhagen and was later appointed royal antiquarian and secretary to the Royal Archives.
6. Torsten Wiesel (1924 - )
With an HPI of 57.06, Torsten Wiesel is the 6th most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 43 different languages.
Torsten Nils Wiesel (born 3 June 1924) is a Swedish neurophysiologist. With David H. Hubel, he received the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system; the prize was shared with Roger W. Sperry for his independent research on the cerebral hemispheres.
7. Olof Rudbeck the Younger (1660 - 1740)
With an HPI of 53.10, Olof Rudbeck the Younger is the 7th most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Olof Rudbeck the Younger or Olaus Rudbeckius d.y. (15 March 1660 – 23 March 1740) was a Swedish explorer, scientist, botanist, ornithologist and rector of Uppsala University.
8. Anders Tegnell (1956 - )
With an HPI of 47.88, Anders Tegnell is the 8th most famous Swedish Physician. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Nils Anders Tegnell (born 17 April 1956) is a Swedish civil servant and physician specialising in infectious disease. From 2013 until his resignation in March 2022 he was Sweden's state epidemiologist. Tegnell had key roles in the Swedish response to the 2009 swine flu pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic. During the Covid pandemic in 2020, he became a divisive figure in Sweden and internationally due to his and the Public Health Agency of Sweden's opposition to lockdowns, travel restrictions and face masks for general use, which were widely adopted in most countries to curb the spread of the virus, as well as for his leading role in Sweden's controversial approach.
Pantheon has 8 people classified as physicians born between 1616 and 1956. Of these 8, 2 (25.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living physicians include Torsten Wiesel and Anders Tegnell. The most famous deceased physicians include Allvar Gullstrand, Arvid Carlsson, and Ulf von Euler.
Living Physicians
Go to all RankingsDeceased Physicians
Go to all Rankings
Allvar Gullstrand
1862 - 1930
HPI: 68.17
Arvid Carlsson
1923 - 2018
HPI: 63.70
Ulf von Euler
1905 - 1983
HPI: 61.40
Hans Rosling
1948 - 2017
HPI: 59.93
Thomas Bartholin
1616 - 1680
HPI: 57.29
Olof Rudbeck the Younger
1660 - 1740
HPI: 53.10
Which Physicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Physicians since 1700.
