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Christiaan Eijkman – Biography
Christiaan
Eijkman was born on August 11, 1858, at Nijkerk in Gelderland
(The Netherlands), the seventh child of Christiaan Eijkman, the
headmaster of a local school, and Johanna Alida Pool.
A year later, in 1859, the Eijkman family moved to Zaandam, where
his father was appointed head of a newly founded school for
advanced elementary education. It was here that Christiaan and
his brothers received their early education. In 1875, after
taking his preliminary examinations, Eijkman became a student at
the Military Medical School of the University of
Amsterdam, where he was trained as a medical officer for the
Netherlands Indies Army, passing through all his examinations
with honours.
From 1879 to 1881, he was an assistant of T. Place, Professor of
Physiology, during which time he wrote his thesis On
Polarization of the Nerves, which gained him his doctor's
degree, with honours, on July 13, 1883. That same year he left
Holland for the Indies, where he was made medical officer of
health first in Semarang later at Tjilatjap, a small village on
the south coast of Java, and at Padang Sidempoean in W. Sumatra.
It was at Tjilatjap that he caught malaria which later so
impaired his health that he, in 1885, had to return to Europe on
sick-leave.
For Eijkman this was to prove a lucky event, as it enabled him to
work in E. Forster's laboratory in Amsterdam, and also in
Robert Koch's bacteriological
laboratory in Berlin; here he came into contact with A. C.
Pekelharing and C. Winkler, who were visiting the German capital
before their departure to the Indies. In this way medical officer
Christiaan Eijkman was seconded as assistant to the
Pekelharing-Winkler mission, together with his colleague M. B.
Romeny. This mission had been sent out by the Dutch Government to
conduct investigations into beriberi, a disease which at that
time was causing havoc in that region.
In 1887, Pekelharing and Winkler were recalled, but before their
departure Pekelharing proposed to the Governor General that the
laboratory which had been temporarily set up for the Commission
in the Military Hospital in Batavia should be made permanent.
This proposal was readily accepted, and Christiaan Eijkman was
appointed its first Director, at the same time being made
Director of the "Dokter Djawa School" (Javanese Medical School).
Thus ended Eijkman's short military career - now he was able to
devote himself entirely to science.
Eijkman was Director of the "Geneeskundig Laboratorium" (Medical
Laboratory) from January 15, 1888 to March 4, 1896, and during
that time he made a number of his most important researches.
These dealt first of all with the physiology of people living in
tropical regions. He was able to demonstrate that a number of
theories had no factual basis. Firstly he proved that in the
blood of Europeans living in the tropics the number of red
corpuscles, the specific gravity, the serum, and the water
content, undergo no change, at least when the blood is not
affected by disease which will ultimately lead to anaemia.
Comparing the metabolism of the European with that of the native,
he found that in the tropics as well in the temperate zone, this
is entirely governed by the work carried out. Neither could he
find any disparity in respiratory metabolism, perspiration, and
temperature regulation. Thus Eijkman put an end to a number of
speculations on the acclimatization of Europeans in the tropics
which had hitherto necessitated the taking of various
precautions.
But Eijkman's greatest work was in an entirely different field.
He discovered, after the departure of Pekelharing and Winkler,
that the real cause of beriberi was the deficiency of some vital
substance in the staple food of the natives, which is located in
the so-called "silver skin" (pericarpium) of the rice. This
discovery has led to the concept of vitamins. This important
achievement earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
for 1929. This late recognition of his outstanding merits has
ended all criticism of his work. In addition to his work on
beriberi, he occupied himself with other problems such as arach
fermentation, and indeed still had time to write two textbooks
for his students at the Java Medical School, one on physiology
and the other on organic chemistry.
In 1898 he became successor to G. Van Overbeek de Meyer, as
Professor in Hygiene and Forensic Medicine at Utrecht. His
inaugural speech was entitled Over Gezondheid en Ziekten in
Tropische Gewesten (On health and diseases in tropical
regions). At Utrecht, Eijkman turned to the study of
bacteriology, and carried out his well-known fermentation test,
by means of which it can be readily established if water has been
polluted by human and animal defaecation containing coli bacilli.
Another research was into the rate of mortality of bacteria as a
result of various external factors, whereby he was able to show
that this process could not be represented by a logarithmic
curve. This was followed by his investigation of the phenomenon
that the rate of growth of bacteria on solid substratum often
decreases, finally coming to a halt. Beyerinck's auxanographic
method was applied on several occasions by Eijkman, as for
example during the secretion of enzymes which break down casein
or bring about haemolysis, whereby he could demonstrate the
hydrolysis of fats under the influence of lipases.
As a lecturer he was known for his clarity of speech and
demonstration, his great practical knowledge standing him in good
stead. He had a preeminently critical mind and he continuously
warned his students against the acceptance of dogmas. But Eijkman
did not confine himself to the University he also engaged himself
in problems of water supply, housing, school hygiene, physical
education; as a member of the Gezondheidsraad (Health Council)
and the Gezondheidscommissie (Health Commission) he participated
in the struggle against alcoholism and tuberculosis. He was the
founder of the Vereeniging tot Bestrijding van de Tuberculose
(Society for the struggle against tuberculosis ).
His unassuming personality has contributed to the fact that his
great merits were at first not really appreciated in his own
country; but anyone who had the privilege of coming into close
contact with him, quickly perceived his keen intellect and
extensive knowledge.
In 1907, Eijkman was appointed Member of the Royal Academy of
Sciences (The Netherlands), after having been Correspondent
since 1895. The Dutch Government conferred upon him several
orders of knighthood, whereas on the occasion of the 25th
anniversary of his professorship a fund has been established to
enable the awarding of the Eijiman Medal. But the crown of all
his work was the award of the Nobel Prize in 1929.
Eijkman was holder of the John Scott Medal, Philadelphia, and
Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. He was
also Honorary Fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute in
London.
In 1883, before his departure to the Indies, Eijkman married
Aaltje Wigeri van Edema, who died in 1886. In Batavia, Professor
Eijkman married Bertha Julie Louise van der Kemp in 1888; a son,
Pieter Hendrik, who became a physician, was born in 1890.
He died in Utrecht, on November 5, 1930, after a protracted
illness.
From Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1922-1941, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1965
This autobiography/biography was written
at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les
Prix Nobel/Nobel
Lectures. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted
by the Laureate. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
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