Johan Gustaf Acrel

Johan Gustaf Acrel (1741 to 1801) was a Swedish physician and professor of medicine at Uppsala University, where he also served for a short time as Rector Magnificus in the spring of 1796. Born in Stockholm, he trained at the Serafimerlasarettet hospital there and became a Master of the Society of Surgeons in 1763 before taking up a post as feldsher in Malmö. He took his doctorate in medicine at Uppsala in 1765, and his reputation grew until he was counted among the finest physicians in Europe, travelling to Germany and France to learn from practice there. In 1788 he was appointed Professor of Practical Medicine at Uppsala. He was also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. His career shows how an eighteenth century Swedish practitioner moved from surgical training into university medicine.