If you take a daily multivitamin or the occasional Vitamin D supplement, you have Kashmir Funk to thank.
According to Google, this Polish-American biochemist, born Kazimierz Funk on February 23, 1884, coined the concept of vitamins, which he called “vitalamines.”
Like nutritionists and physicians today, Funk recognized the need for supplementation with certain vitamins to prevent conditions such as scurvy, vitamin C deficiency, and rickets, which is caused by vitamin D deficiency.
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According to the American Nutrition Association, Funk discovered vitamins B1, B2, C and D and identified many of the nutrients necessary for human health, leading the association to induct him into its Nutrition Hall of Fame.
“He stated that they are necessary for normal health and to prevent deficiency diseases,” the American Nutrition Association states on its website.
“In his later work, Funk investigated animal hormones and contributed greatly to our knowledge of the hormones of the pituitary and gonadal glands, emphasizing the importance of hormone and vitamin balance.”
According to Google, Funk’s family described him as a “motivated, inquisitive child.”
“He pursued his studies with passion, despite the obstacles he faced as a Jewish student in Europe at a time of rising anti-Semitism,” it added.
He earned his doctorate from the University of Bern in Switzerland at the age of just 20. Throughout his career as a biochemist, he worked in several hospitals and institutions, including the University of Berlin and the Institut Pasteur in Paris.
But even after his fame came to him, Funk was a dedicated family man who valued spending time with his loved ones, his family told Google.
Funk died in Albany, New York in 1967, but his contributions to the world of health and science remain integral to everyday life.
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