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Johan Harmenberg

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Johan Harmenberg
Personal information
Full nameJohan Georg Harmenberg Åkerman
Born (1954-09-08) 8 September 1954 (age 70)
Stockholm, Sweden
Height179 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight71 kg (157 lb)[1]
Sport
CountrySweden
SportFencing
Eventépée
College teamMIT Engineers
ClubFöreningen för Fäktkonstens Främjande
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals1980 Moscow Olympic Games gold medal in Individual Épée
World finals1977 World Championship titles in Individual Épée and Team Épée
National finals12 Swedish national championships, five silver medals, and six bronze medals
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1980 Moscow Individual epée

Johan Georg Harmenberg Åkerman (born 8 September 1954) is a Swedish Olympic and world champion épée fencer.[1][2]

Early and personal life

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Harmenberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and is Jewish.[1][3][4][5] He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[2]

His son Karl Harmenberg fenced épée for Harvard University, and as a junior in 2008-09 won the gold medal at the NCAA Regionals and was selected to All-Ivy League second team.[6]

University

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He completed two years of study at MIT in 1975, during which time he went by the name Johan Akerman.[7] He left MIT two years early (he would have graduated in 1977) and returned to Sweden, having been drafted by the Swedish Army in the summer of 1974.[8][9][10][11]

He subsequently studied at Stockholm University.[12] He holds an MD and a PhD in virology from Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.[13]

Fencing career

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He fenced for the club Föreningen för Fäktkonstens Främjande in Sweden.[1] He was a Swedish National Junior champion.[7] He has won eight total epee gold medals in both individual and team competitions at Olympic, World Championships, and World Cup tournaments. He also won 12 Swedish national championships, as well as five silver medals and six bronze medals at Swedish national championships.[14]

University

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Åkerman fenced foil for the MIT fencing team, the MIT Engineers. He won the 1974 Intercollegiate Fencing Association foil championship, and won the bronze medal in the 1974 NCAA Fencing Foil Championship with a record of 18-5.[15][2] It was MIT's first weapon title at the competition in 43 years.[7] Åkerman was awarded MIT's 1974 Varsity Club Award, as the school's "Outstanding Freshmen Athlete of the Year."[16]

World Championships

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He won the 1977 World Championship titles in Individual Épée and Team Épée in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[17][18] He also won a bronze medal in Team Épée at the 1979 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.[18]

World Cups

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Harmenberg captured three Individual Épée World Cup Championships within four years: 1977 (Bern), 1979 (Heidenheim), and 1980 (Heidenheim). He also won team titles at the 1977 and 1980 World Cups.

Olympics

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At the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, Harmenberg won a gold medal in the Individual Épée.[19][20] In three of the final matches he won by only one touch.[21] He is the only Swede to have won an individual gold medal in fencing.[22] Harmenberg was a member of the Swedish épée team as well; the team placed 5th in the team épée competition.[20]

Hall of Fame

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Harmenberg, who is Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.[23]

Biotech career

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Harmenberg is an Associate Professor (Docent) of Virology at Karolinska Institute.[24][25]

He became a biotech executive and researcher.[11] He has been the Global Medical Director for Pharmacia Upjohn (1995-97), Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development for Medivir AB (1997-2006), Chief Medical Officer at Algeta AB (2006-07), Chief Executive Officer at Axelar AB (2007-15) and Akinion AB (2009-15), and Chief Medical Officer of Oncopeptides AB until he reached their retirement age (2012-21).[26][27][28][29][24][30] In September 2019, Harmenberg joined Beactica Therapeutics, a Swedish drug discovery company, as a clinical advisor.[31] In November 2021, he was appointed Chief Medical Officer of LIDDS AB.[12]

Scholarship

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Harmenberg is the author of over 100 publications in scientific literature.[30] Harmenberg co-authored scientific papers entitled "Fencing: Biomedical and Psychological Factors," "Comparison of different tests of fencing performance" (1991), and "Physiological and morphological characteristics of world class fencers" (1990).[32] Harmenberg has also had a distinguished career in medical pharmacology, publishing a variety of papers relating to viral immunology.[33]

Harmenberg co-authored Épée 2.0: The Birth of the New Fencing Paradigm,[34][35][36] and Épée 2.5: The New Paradigm Revised and Augmented.[37] and Epee 2.6.[38] In these books, he describes the new fencing paradigm that he developed with Maestro Eric Sollee, from MIT, which resulted in his victories and a transformation in how Épée is fenced at the higher levels of competition.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Johan Harmenberg," Olympedia.
  2. ^ a b c Peter Landry (March 9, 1974). "Fencers Disappoint in IF As; Crimson Fades in Foil, Epee," Harvard Crimson.
  3. ^ "Jewish Olympic Medalists (1896-Present)," Jewish Virtual Library.
  4. ^ Fred Skolnik, Michael Berenbaum (2007). Encyclopaedia Judaica: Nat-Per, Macmillan Reference USA, p. 415.
  5. ^ Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by day in Jewish sports history, p. 252, KTAV Publishing House.
  6. ^ "Karl Harmenberg". Go Crimson. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "N.Y.U. Wins Title Again In Fencing," The New York Times, March 10, 1974.
  8. ^ Steven M. Heller (December 5, 1974). "Harvard Fencers Thrash Feeble MIT Squad, 18-9, For First Win of Season," The Harvard Crimson.
  9. ^ Bryan Caplan (2019). The Case Against Education; Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money, Princeton University Press.
  10. ^ "The Harvard Crimson". Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  11. ^ a b Joshua D. Angrist, Jörn-Steffen Pischke (2014). Mastering 'Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect.
  12. ^ a b "LIDDS Announces Appointment of Johan Harmenberg as Chief Medical Officer," Yahoo, November 15, 2021.
  13. ^ "Prof. Johan Harmenberg M.D. Ph.D., Medical Advisor," Beactica.
  14. ^ "Johan Harmenberg Åkerman," Ophardt.
  15. ^ "NCAA Fencing Championships Individual Results by Event/Fencer (1941‐2019)," Museum of American Fencing.
  16. ^ "The Varsity Club Award," MIT Athletics.
  17. ^ "Fencing World Championships". sports123.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  18. ^ a b "Fencing World Championship Individual Medalists by Year," July 30, 2023.
  19. ^ "Olympics Statistics: Johan Harmenberg". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  20. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Johan Harmenberg". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  21. ^ "Moscow 1980 - Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté". Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015.
  22. ^ [1]
  23. ^ "JOHAN HARMENBERG". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  24. ^ a b / "Prof. Johan Harmenberg M.D. Ph.D.; Medical Advisor," Beactica Therapeutics.
  25. ^ "Medivir’s Nomination Committee proposes new Board of Directors ahead of 2015 AGM," FirstWord Pharma, February 18, 2015.
  26. ^ "Johan Harmenberg to be replaced by Klaas Bakker as Oncopeptides CMO," The Pharma Letter, August 20, 2019.
  27. ^ "Axelar: The Team". Axelar.se. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  28. ^ Nature Biotechnology (1 September 2006). "Nature Biotechnology Journal". Nature Biotechnology. 24 (9). Nature.com: 1176. doi:10.1038/nbt0906-1176. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  29. ^ "RP-606 Rights Revert to Medivir" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. 9 December 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  30. ^ a b "Johan Harmenberg M.D., Ph.D.: Executive Profile & Biography," Bloomberg.
  31. ^ AB, Beactica (10 September 2019). "Beactica Therapeutics Appoints Several High-profile People to Strengthen its Strategic Focus on Drug Discovery". PR Newswire. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  32. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 March 2003. Retrieved 18 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  33. ^ "author:J. author:Harmenberg". Google Scholar. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  34. ^ Dr. Guy Windsor (2020). Swordfighting, for Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists
  35. ^ Dr. Guy Windsor (2023). The Principles and Practices of Solo Training; A Guide for Historical Martial Artists, Sword People, and Everyone Else Spada Press.
  36. ^ Epee 2.0: The New Fencing Paradigm, by Johan Harmenberg, SKA SwordPlay Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0978902216
  37. ^ Epee 2.5: The New Paradigm Revised and Augmented, SKA SwordPlay Books, 2014, ISBN 978-0985444181
  38. ^ Johan Harmenberg, Philippe Boisse, Angelo Mazzoni, Geoff Pingree, Arnd Schmitt, Björne Väggö. Epee 2.6, ISBN 9780991116379
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