Gunnar Krantz

Gunnar Teodor Krantz (17 February 1911 – 4 March 2003) was a Swedish veterinarian. He served as the Veterinary Surgeon-in-Chief and head of the Swedish Army Veterinary Corps from 1957 to 1969 and as Director of the Swedish Armed Forces Veterinarian Service from 1969 to 1976.

Early life Krantz was born on 17 February 1911 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Carl Teodor Krantz and his wife Ester (née Kjellin). He passed studentexamen in 1930, obtained his bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine in 1933, and became a licensed veterinarian in 1937.

Career Krantz began his career as an assistant at the Department of Pathological Anatomy at the Royal Veterinary College of Sweden (Veterinärhögskolan) in 1937. From the same year, he became the Director of the Swedish Armed Forces Veterinarian Service (försvarsöverveterinär) in the Veterinary Section of the Health Care Office at the Medical Board of the Swedish Armed Forces. He served in this position until 1976. He was the chairman of the Swedish Federation of Animal Welfare Associations (Sveriges djurskyddsföreningars riksförbund) from 1977 to 1985.

Personal life On 5 September 1937, Krantz married Anna Lisa Julin (1909–2003), the daughter of postmaster Teodor Julin and Elma (née Lindeberg), in south of Södertälje, Stockholm County. They had three children: Birgitta (1940–2002), Bengt (born 1942), and Cecilia (born 1947). He was interred on 6 May 2003 at Bromma Cemetery.

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Djurvännernas förening's gold medal (1982) Swedish Society for the Protection of Animals (Svenska Djurskyddsföreningen) Medal of Merit (May 1979)

Foreign

Finnish War Commemorative Medal

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1961)