Who is Casimir Funk? Why Is Google Celebrating His 140th Birthday with a Doodle?

Google celebrates Casimir Funk's 140th birthday, a Polish-American biochemist known for his groundbreaking work on vitamins and critical nutrients. Funk's revolutionary discoveries transformed our knowledge of nutrition and human health.

Google honoured Polish-American biochemist Casimir Funk in a doodle, noting his pioneering contributions to the discovery and conceptualization of vitamins and vital elements critical to human health. Funk developed the name "vitamines" (later abbreviated as "vitamins") to characterise these important chemicals. Notably, he looked into the ingredient that made people less susceptible to Beri-Beri when they ate brown rice rather than fully milled rice. On February 23, 2024, this recognition was highlighted as a Google Doodle.

Who Is Casimir Funk?

Kazimierz Funk's adventure began in Poland, where he was raised and received his early education. After graduating from high school, he travelled to Switzerland to study biology and chemistry. Remarkably, at the age of 20, Funk received his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Bern, launching his remarkable career in several European research organisations.

Who is Casimir Funk? Why Google is Celebrating His 140th Birth Anniversary With Doodle?

Funk's focus moved over time to investigate the effects of food components on common ailments such as scurvy, cancer, pellagra, and rickets. In a watershed moment in 1911, he experimented with a strange chemical known as B1 (thiamine), converting it into ingestible crystals that promoted cellular growth and function. He proposed the term "vitamines" for his discovery, derived from the Latin words "vita" (life) and "amine" (a chemical substance containing an amino group), which was later reduced to "vitamin."

Funk went to New York City in 1915, and in 1920, he was naturalised as an American citizen. In the United States, he worked as a researcher at several colleges before becoming a consultant for the US Vitamin Corporation.

Funk continued his revolutionary study by discovering other vitamins and their sources in food. With the release of his book "Die Vitamine," scientists worldwide were inspired to discover 13 more vitamins over the next 35 years. Funk's essential contributions to nutrition and medicine helped combat diseases such as scurvy and opened the path for numerous scientific advancements.

Funk Award

The prestigious Casimir Funk Natural Sciences Award is bestowed yearly by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA), in recognition of Polish-American scientists' remarkable achievements. Distinguished recipients of this award include Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann, Aleksander Wolszczan, Hilary Koprowski, Peter T. Wolczanski, Wacław Szybalski, Zbyszek Darzynkiewicz, and Benoit Mandelbrot, among others.