Casimir funk biography

Cazimierz Funk, also known as Kasimir Funk, was a Polish biochemist. He proposed the idea of vitamins in 1912, which he initially called "vital amines" or "vitamines."

Achievements

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After reading an article by a Dutchman named Christiaan Eijkman, which said that people who ate brown rice were less likely to get beri-beri compared to those who only ate fully milled rice, a scientist named Funk tried to find the specific substance responsible for this.

He was successful and named it "vitamine" because it contained an amine group. It was later called vitamin B3 (niacin), even though he initially thought it would be vitamin B1 (thiamine) and described it as the "anti-beri-beri-factor.

Casimir funk pronunciation

In 1912, he suggested the existence of at least four vitamins: one to prevent beriberi, one for scurvy, one for pellagra, and one for rickets. He later published a book called "The Vitamines" in 1912 and received a research fellowship.

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