Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Funk, Casimir, 1884-1967
- Abstract:
- Collection of research notes, business correspondence, biographical material and offprints from scientific journals from the “father of vitamins” Casimir Funk (1884-1967). Topics include cancer, diabetes, hormones, vitamins, ulcers. Material spans his working career from 1904-1967, but is mostly concentrated on his later career in the United States from 1939-1967.
- Extent:
- 17 boxes, 1 legal-size box, 1 cd box, 1 flat box.
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Collection composed of research notes, articles and offprints, clinical notebooks, personal and work-related correspondence, Funk Foundation materials, and a few slides/photos. Includes drafts of Funk’s autobiography, and drafts of Benjamin Harrow’s published biography of Funk. Some of the earliest material in the collection dates from the beginning of his professional career in Paris (1904-1906), but the bulk focuses on his life and career in the United States from 1939-1967. Manuscript materials are in English, French, German and Polish and the collection of published professional literature mostly in offprints and reproductions contains works in English, French, German, Polish, Russian and Spanish. Topics include: cancer, diabetes, vitamins, ulcers and hormones.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Known as the “father of vitamins,” Casimir Funk (1884-1967) focused his investigations into vitamins, as well as extensive research on cancer, diabetes, and sex hormones. He was the first to isolate niacin, and hypothesized that nutritional deficiencies can cause certain diseases. Born in Warsaw, he studied in Switzerland at the University of Bern. He worked at various European labs before he founded the privately-funded research institute Casa Biochemica in Paris in 1927. He immigrated to the United States in 1939, where he worked as a consultant for the United States Vitamin Corporation. In 1940 he founded and acted as president of the Funk Foundation for Medical Research.
- Acquisition information:
- Burndy Library Collection, Gift of Dibner Family, November 2006.
- Arrangement:
-
Arrangement is predominantely as received from the Burndy library. The series of reprints and articles in particular did not appear to have a readily apparent order and are given as received.
The collection is arranged in the following series:
1. Biographical information and primary works.
2. Correspondence and research, 1935-1963.
3. U.S. Vitamin Corporation, 1948-1963.
4. Funk Foundation, 1947-1960.
5. Reprints and articles, 1896-1967.
6. Photographs and slides
7. Research notes, 1900-1963.
8. Miscellaneous legal-sized items.
9. Photographic slides and glass plates.
10. Scrapbook.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Note:
-
Finding aid last updated on February 19, 2016.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191