Jacobus Bontius

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Jacobus Bontius

1598?-1631

Physician and naturalist, perhaps of Danish origin, who is known for supplying the first scientific documentation of the disease beriberi, is a disease known to Asia and the South Pacific and is caused by a nutritional deficiency of vitamin B1; this disease is known in groups where there is a high intake of rice. He observed the disease firsthand in the South Pacific and published his findings in 1642.