He was the founder of Camillus Nyrops Etablissement, Denmark's first manufacturer of surgical instruments and artificial limbs.

Nyrop was born on 18 February 1811 in Riserup on Falster, the son of provost Christopher Ntrop (1752-1831) and his second wife Cathrine Elisabeth Magdalene Heilmann (1765-1842).

In 1833, he was articled to J. H. Hüttemeier to improve his knowledge of metalwork while at the same time studying under Hans Christian Ørsted at the College of Advanced Technology.

After that, he went abroad to further his study of surgical instruments in Berlin and Vienna before arriving in Paris in 1836, where he became an apprentice to Joseph-Frédéric-Benoît Charrière and collaborated with leading French surgeons.

He later went abroad on several occasions, both to update his knowledge of surgical instruments and to become familiar with new areas of the metal industry.