Christiaan Eijkman was a Dutch physician and a professor of physiology, who is known for his work on the disease beriberi and the discovery of antineuritic vitamins. The son of a school teacher, he aimed to become a doctor but his family’s financial status did not allow the 6,000 guilds needed for his medical education. Thus he pledged to join the military service which would enable him to study medicine free of cost. Later he was sent to Dutch East Indies, now called Indonesia, as an Army Surgeon. Here he first came into contact with cases of beriberi and was perplexed by it. Later he trained himself as a bacteriologist and returned to Java, where he spent the next ten years investigating the disease. After a long and painstaking research, he was able to prove that unpolished rice contained some ingredient, which could both prevent and cure beriberi, but it was lost when the rice was polished. Unfortunately, he had to return home soon after that, but his discovery set the stage for further investigation, which led to the discovery of antineuritic vitamins (Thiamine). A year before his death, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the discovery.