Cornelis Adrianus Pekelharing (19 July 1848 – 18 September 1922) was a Dutch physiologist who worked extensively on problems relating to nutrition and human metabolism. Pekelharing was born in

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaand ...

, the sixth child of physician Cornelis and his wife Johanna van Ree. His early studies were in schools at Zaandam. Following the family tradition, he was admitted to study medicine at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

in 1865 but his father thought he was too young and let him join after a year spent at home on private studies. During his studies at the University of Leiden, his research interests were sparked by Adriaan Heynsius who in turn had trained under Gerrit Jan Mulder. He also took an interest in histology under F.C. Donders, he joined the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. He received his license to practice medicine in 1872 and managed his father's practice while his parents vacationed abroad. His father died in 1873 and in the same year he married Willemine Geertruida Campert (d. 1897), a sister of a friend. Apart from medical practice he worked in Heynsius' laboratory and wrote a dissertation on the determination of urea in blood and tissues in 1874. Preferring research, he joined a teaching position in the veterinary school in Utrecht, a position suggested by Donders. He spent some in Leipzig under J. Cohnheim learning new laboratory techniques. In 1884 Pekelharing hired Cornelis Winkler with whom he conducted studies on nervous disorders. He collaborated with Professor Sape Talma on leucocytes and inflammation. A bout of sickness led to a period of rest and he was asked to visit Dutch Java in 1886 to examine

beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The two main types in adults are wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, ...

. Along with Winkler the two noted that it involved polyneuritis and suggested a bacterial cause. Before leaving Java, Pekelharing suggested a more permanent research facility in Java, and this was taken up by the Dutch government and it was there that Christiaan Eijkman identified a dietary deficiency as the basis of beriberi. Pekelharing too conducted studies on diet with mice and noted the importance of various proteins. He helped establish the field of nutrition research in the Netherlands. He retired in 1918 and died in 1922 at his home in Utrecht.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pekelharing, Cornelis Adrianus Dutch physiologists 1848 births Leiden University alumni 1922 deaths