H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf Awarded Medal by Karolinska Institutet
[Press Release 2010-04-14] In his role as patron of the Karolinska Institutet 200-year anniversary, H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf will today receive, as first recipient, the Karolinska Institutet Gold Medal.
Karolinska Institutet has established an anniversary medal in three qualities: Gold, Grand Silver and Silver, in association with its 200-year anniversary. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf will be awarded the Karolinska Institutet Gold Medal "for outstanding contributions to Karolinska Institutet's work to improve people´s health through research and education."
Royal involvement
The medal will be awarded at the Royal Palace in Stockholm by Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, President of Karolinska Institutet.
"The award of Karolinska Institutet's Gold Medal to His Majesty is to be seen as an expression of our gratitude for the royal patronage that our anniversary enjoys, a patronage that fulfils the tradition of royal involvement that has characterised the history of Karolinska Institutet for 200 years," she says.
Requirement for military surgeons
It was on 13 December 1810 that King Karl XIII signed the charter that was to become the foundation of Karolinska Institutet, or the "Institute for the training of skilled military surgeons", as it was first called. Great numbers of Swedish soldiers had died from diseases such as scurvy, dysentery and typhoid fever during the war with Russia 1808-1809, since there were insufficient military surgeons. Now that Sweden had again become caught up in a war, this time with England in November 1810, King Karl XIII yielded to political pressure and took the decision to establish training for military surgeons. Thus, royal involvement has been of major significance for Karolinska Institutet throughout its history.
For Sweden - With the times
Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson sees also the royal patronage of the Karolinska Institutet 200-year anniversary as an excellent way of living up to the royal motto: "For Sweden - With the times."
"Karolinska Institutet is a modern university that has had and still has a great significance for both Sweden and the rest of the world. It is also a university that aims to work 'with the times', and in this way form a better future for people suffering from disease and ill-health."
Several medals during the anniversary year
Further medals will be awarded during the anniversary year, four of them in association with the Karolinska Institutet bicentenary feast to be held in the Stockholm City Hall in August, during which His Majesty will take part in the presentation.