R. H. A. Plimmer

Robert Henry Aders Plimmer (25 April 1877 – 18 June 1955) was a British chemist, biochemist and author, who researched protein chemistry, especially the phosphorylation of proteins, and nutrition, particularly vitamins and the nutritional qualities of different proteins. He worked at the physiology department of University College, London (1904–19), latterly as reader in physiological chemistry, briefly headed the biochemistry department at the Rowett Institute of Research in Animal Nutrition in Aberdeen, and then returned to London to hold a chair in the chemistry department of St Thomas's Hospital Medical School (1922–42), and in retirement worked at the British Postgraduate Medical School (1943–55).

Plimmer's academic books include the monograph ''The Chemical Constitution of the Proteins'' (1908), the textbook ''Organic and Bio-Chemistry'' (1910), and the earliest food-composition tabulations relating to British foods (1921). With his wife, Violet Geraldine Plimmer, he published several popular books about nutrition for a general audience, including ''Vitamins and the Choice of Food'' (1922) and ''Food, Health, Vitamins'' (1925), whose "square meal" chart one reviewer advises "should be hung up over every housekeeper's desk". He is also remembered for his role in the foundation and early years of the Biochemical Society; he was the body's first honorary secretary and treasurer, twice chaired the committee (1922–23 and 1939–40), and was elected an honorary member in 1943. He published a history of the society in 1949 that is considered a valuable source for the history of biochemistry in the UK. Provided by Wikipedia