Christiaan Eijkman

Christiaan Eijkman
Christiaan Eijkman
Born	August 11, 1858 Nijkerk, Netherlands
Died	November 5, 1930 Utrecht, Netherlands
Nationality	Netherlands
Fields	Pathology
Known for	Beriberi, vitamins
Notable awards	Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (1929)

Christiaan Eijkman (August 11, 1858, Nijkerk – November 5, 1930, Utrecht) was a Dutch physician and pathologist whose demonstration that beriberi is caused by poor diet led to the discovery of vitamins. Together with Sir Frederick Hopkins, he received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

Although Eijkman had been sent to Indonesia to study Beriberi, the discovery of the cause was accidental. He noticed the symptoms in some chickens used in his laboratory when their feed had been altered temporarily. Eijkman was unable to continue his research due to ill health, but a study by his friend Adolphe Vorderman confirmed the link between polished rice and the disease. Eventually it was determined the missing compound that was causing Beriberi was vitamin B1, thiamine.

[edit] References

• Lodewijk Palm, Christiaan Eijkman 1858 -1930 In: K. van Berkel, A. van Helden and L. Palm ed., A history of Science in the Netherlands. Survey, Themes and Reference (Leiden: Brill, 1999) 447 - 449.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christiaan Eijkman

• Biography
• Christiaan Eijkman – Biography
• Museum Boerhaave Negen Nederlandse Nobelprijswinnaars
• A.M. Luyendijk-Elshout, Eijkman, Christiaan (1858-1930), in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.
• Biography of Christiaan Eijkman (1858-1930) at the National Library of the Netherlands
• Christiaan Eijkman