Who he was

Severin Andreas Heyerdahl was a Norwegian physician, radiologist and hospital director. He was a pioneer in the introduction of X-ray diagnostics and radiation therapy in Norway, helping to establish radiology as a recognised medical field.

Pioneering cancer treatment

In 1899, Heyerdahl became head of the X-ray department at Rikshospitalet. He earned his medical doctorate in radiology in 1910 and began using radium to treat patients at Rikshospitalet in 1912. The following year, he helped establish the Kristiania Radium-Institutt, an early specialist clinic for radiation-based cancer treatment.

Radiumhospitalet and his legacy

Heyerdahl was a driving force behind the establishment of the Norwegian Radium Hospital, which opened at Montebello in 1932. He became the hospital’s first director and served as its chief physician during its formative years. His work helped create a national centre for radiation-based cancer treatment and laid important foundations for the specialist cancer environment that exists at Campus Radiumhospitalet today.