Donald Berthold Zilversmit (July 11, 1919 – September 16, 2010) was a Dutch-born

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

nutritional biochemist, researcher and educator. He spent much of his career at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

as professor in the division of nutritional sciences. Zilversmit was born in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the son of Herman and Elizabeth (DeWinter) Zilversmit. He began studies at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

but escaped before the German invasion in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He came to the United States in 1939 to finish his studies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(B.S., 1940, Ph.D. 1948). He joined a Dutch brigade during the war. He married Kitty Fonteyn in 1945. She wrote of her time in hiding and their separation during the Nazi occupation in ''Yours Always, A Holocaust Love Story''. They have three daughters. He was on the faculty of the University of Tennessee Medical College from 1948 to 1966. He received a Career Investigator Award from the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

in 1959. Zilversmit joined the faculty of Cornell's Graduate School of Nutrition in 1966 and remained until retirement in 1990. He was awarded an honorary degree from Utrecht University in 1980 and was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1989. Zilversmit authored or co-authored over 300 publications and made major contributions to the understanding of the relationship between diet and

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

. He greatly contributed to the understanding of atherogenesis, including basic mechanisms in

lipid Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing ...

transport and exchange. He co-founded the ''

Journal of Lipid Research The ''Journal of Lipid Research'' is a monthly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal that was established in 1959. Since 2000, it has been published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research on lipids ...

''. He died on September 16, 2010, in Canton, Mass.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zilversmit, Donald 1919 births American biochemists Dutch biochemists UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Cornell University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from Hengelo 2010 deaths Dutch emigrants to the United States