Johan Cronquist

in Swedish

Johan Cronquist

1866 - 1921

Regimental physician and pediatrician at Malmö Children's Hospital.

Johan Cronquist came from a wealthy family in Malmö. He trained as a doctor in Lund and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and practiced in Berlin under Professor Robert Koch, who invented tuberculin. Koch received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1905. Tuberculosis and childhood diseases would become Johan Cronquist's calling.

At the hospital he saw the dark side of the city with unemployment, poverty, drunkenness and abuse. The children were especially affected, with the English disease, malnutrition and vermin. He helped by not charging and bought medicine, food and firewood with his own money.

He married the Danish nurse Antoine Lanng and had two children, Ludvig and Alice. Alice would eventually become known as Alice Lyttkens and it is mainly through her memoirs that we get to know Johan Cronquist.

He was on the board of the 'Milk Drop Association', which taught mothers how to care for children and, among other things, advocated for tuberculin-free milk for children. It was primarily through unpasteurized milk that the infection spread.

He wrote several books and brochures about infant care, tuberculosis and more, including the brochure ”Breastfeed your baby!”

Johan Cronquist was a doctor at Malmö Children's Hospital from 1907 until his death, but since only children who had reached the age of three were allowed to be treated at Malmö Children's Hospital, he fought for a long time together with the chief physician Bauer for the city to build an infant hospital. It was the Flensburg Foundation that solved the problem when the Flensburg Children's Hospital was built in 1912-13.

In connection with the opening of the children's hospital, Johan Cronquist experienced the disappointment of his life when, despite having fought and contributed his own money to the fight for the hospital, he did not become its chief physician. A more qualified doctor from Stockholm got the job.

Johan Cronquist was also a regimental physician in the Crown Prince's Hussars, who honored him with a military funeral upon his death.

Cronquists gata, a cross street to John Ericssons väg, is named after him..

If you look a little closer at the gravesite, you'll see a small Aladdin lamp on a pedestal. Was it donated by grateful parents? Maybe it still has some power? If you don't pat it, you'll never know.

Gravesite at Gamla kyrkogården (IDstory)
which is next to Gustav Adolfs Torg (IDstory).

References

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• Alice Lyttkens 1977, Leva om sitt liv, del 1 och 2
• Alice Lyttkens Wikipedia
• Text: Christian Kindblad | Photo: Jonas Andréasson

Published: 2005.06 Updated: 2025.05.24

Kategorier 20 Historical persons 45 Malmö 44

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