Christiaan Eijkman (1856–1930)

Christiaan Eijkman (1856–1930) was born on 11 August 1856 in Nijkerk, Netherlands. His father, Christiaan, was a school master and his mother, Johanna Alida Pool, took care of their large family (Christian was the seventh child). In 1875 Christian Eijkman enrolled in the University of Amsterdam Military Medical School wishing to later join the Netherlands Indies Army. In 1883 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he received his doctoral degree with distinction for the thesis On Polarization of the Nerves [1]. Pursuing his vocation in 1883 he left the Netherlands to start work in the Dutch East Indies. In 1885, when in Java, he contracted malaria and was forced to return to Europe to receive treatment. This experience sparked his life-long interest in tropical diseases. He established contacts with a research laboratory in Amsterdam. However, more important was his work for Robert Koch (1843–1910) in Koch’s Berlin laboratory. This is where Eijkman started working with Cornelis Pekelharing (1848–1922) and Tiberius Winkler (1822–1897), who were then preparing for a research expedition to study beri–beri. The disease, with difficulty in walking, tingling or loss of sensation in hands and feet, loss of tendon reflexes muscle function or paralysis of the lower legs and mental confusion, was widespread in the Dutch Indies. He joined them as a medical officer and returned to Java in 1887. However, Pekelharing and Winkler were soon recalled to the Netherlands. Thanks to their support and Eijkman’s knowledge of research methods Eijkman was not only able to continue the work, but was also appointed head of “Dokter Djava School” in 1887. This marked the end of his career in the army. Eijkman now focused on his research. In 1888–1896 he was also director of the Medical Laboratory, where he dispelled a number of myths on acclimatization of Europeans in the tropics. He proved that blood parameters of newcomers acclimatizing to new conditions did not change and that there were no differences between the physiology of breathing or metabolism between the Europeans and the indigenous population [2]. In 1884, Takaki Kanehiro (1849–1920), a Japanese Navy doctor, eliminated white rice from sailors’ diet and added nutrient-rich food to their diet. This change led to the eradication of beri–beri among sailors during a several-monthlong voyage. Takaki mistakenly attributed this to the nitrogen-rich diet. The diet, however, proved to be too expensive and the Navy did not continue with the diet change. Apart from the costs, another contributing factor was a deepseated belief that the underlying causes of beri–beri were infectious. Consequently, the idea that the disease could be caused by a diet seemed far-fetched. Takaki’s discovery was soon forgotten [3]. The objective of the studies in the Dutch Indies was to find the cause of beri–beri. Eijkman’s first idea was that the disease was caused by bacteria. To investigate this this Eijkman had animals infected with bacteria, but they did not develop the disease. He concluded that longer incubation was necessary. To confirm this he purchased a * Krzysztof Pietrzak [email protected]