Henrik Dam

Henrik Dam married Inger Olsen in 1924.

He died of natural causes on 17 April 1976 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was buried at Bispebjerg Kirkegård, Copenhagen.

Henrik Dam was born on 21 February 1895, in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father, Emil Dam, was an apothecary, and his mother, Emilie, was a teacher.

He studied chemistry at the Copenhagen Polytechnic Institute and graduated in 1920.

After his graduation, Henrik Dam became an instructor (assistant) in chemistry at the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. In 1923, he was appointed instructor in biochemistry at the Physiological Laboratory of the University of Copenhagen.

In 1925, he studied microchemistry at the University of Graz, Austria under the guidance of Fritz Pregl - the 1923 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry. In 1928, he became Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biochemistry, Copenhagen University.

Within a year in 1929, he was promoted to the position of Associate Professor at the same university.

In 1934, he received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Copenhagen. His doctoral thesis was titled ‘Nogle Undersøgelser over Sterinernes Biologiske Betydning’ (Some Investigations on The Biological Significance of The Sterines).

On receiving Rockefeller Fellowship, he associated with Rudolph Schoenheimer in Freiburg, Germany in 1932–1933 and later with P. Karrer of Zurich, in 1935, to advance his study of sterines metabolism.

While studying sterines metabolism in chickens, Henrik Dam experimented by feeding the chicks a restricted, cholesterol-free diet. Within weeks, he noticed that the chickens bled easily and had reduced blood-clotting ability. He cured their illness by feeding them pigs' liver, alfalfa, cabbage, and spinach. He then discovered the dietary substance required for blood clotting and named it ‘coagulation vitamin’, or vitamin K.