Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Joseph Goldberger

Pellagra was widespread in the South in the early part of the twentieth century. It was a skin disease; and it was attributed to many causes: heredity, disease, parasites, and other factors. Bad cases can lead to dementia and even death.

However, Dr. Joseph Goldberger (1874-1929) determined through experimentation that it was due to eating a diet that had insufficient niacin in it, particularly one based on corn. Furthermore, he determined that pellagra could be reversed with the introduction of a niacin-rich diet.

Dr. Goldberger was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine five times.

He is honored with a statue in his native Slovakia, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire when he migrated.

I think he would be a suitable and non-controversial candidate for a public statue anywhere in the South.

Statue of Dr. Joseph Goldberger in Slovakia