Olof af Acrel practised at a period when medicine itself was being rebuilt on new foundations.
The record lists Olof af Acrel as Swedish surgeon (1717-1806).
Olof af Acrel was born in 1717. His recorded nationality is Sweden. He trained at Uppsala University.
Hospitals became teaching institutions in this period, and clinical observation began to be recorded systematically.
Clinical knowledge is accumulated slowly and revised often, usually at some cost.
Recognition followed: Knight of the Order of the Polar Star (1795) and Commander of the Order of Vasa (1799).
That the work was done from Sweden matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Olof af Acrel died in 1806, aged 89. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Knight of the Order of the Polar Star — 1795
- Commander of the Order of Vasa — 1799
