Thorvald Andreas Pedersen (5 August 1887 – 19 September 1961) was a Danish pharmacist, chemist, and industrialist. Together with his brother Harald Pedersen, he co-founded the pharmaceutical company Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium in 1925, a predecessor of Novo Nordisk.[1]
Early life and education
Thorvald Pedersen was born in Øster Hurup, Denmark, in 1887, the youngest of ten children in a schoolteacher's family.[1][2] Fascinated by botany and natural sciences, he trained as a pharmacist in Hobro and graduated in 1910.[3] After further studies in chemistry, he worked at Otto Mønsteds Margarinefabrik in Aarhus and from 1918 to 1923 as an analytical chemist at Dansk Sojakagefabrik in Copenhagen.[2]