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Benjamin R. Jacobs | |
|---|---|
 Benjamin R. Jacobs - March 1954 | |
| Born | Ricardo Benjamin Jacobs March 15, 1879 |
| Died | February 3, 1963 (aged 83) Orlando, Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Biochemist |
| Known for | Research on nutrition, development of enriched grains |
Benjamin Ricardo Jacobs (March 15, 1879 – February 3, 1963) was born at the American Consulate in Lima, Peru, to Rosa Mulet Jacobs of Valparaíso, Chile, a French-Chilean, and Washington Michael Jacobs of South Carolina in the United States. Originally christened on April 5, 1879 as Ricardo Benjamin Jacobs, he later changed his name, once by reversing the order of his first and middle name, and then in some records by anglicizing the name Ricardo to Richard. His mother was the accomplished and well-educated daughter of a noted French merchant in Valparaíso. At the time of his birth, his father was the American vice-consul to Peru. A businessman with many interests in the United States, including mining, his father also was engaged in mining in several countries in South America and he published the Imprenta Americana and a semi-weekly newspaper, El Tumbes.
When the War of the Pacific broke out between Chile and the united forces of Bolivia and Peru, his family moved to Oakland, California, the state where his father had resided previously and retained business interests. They soon moved to Tucson, Arizona Territory. In 1880, his father opened the Jacobs Assay Office (still in operation by his descendants). During the 1880s through the 1890s, Washington M. Jacobs managed varied mining interests, and was elected Justice of the Peace of the Tucson Precinct of Pima County in 1887, serving for two years. Benjamin Jacobs grew up in multi-cultural Tucson and learned the basics of chemistry in his father's assay and chemical laboratory. He also worked in the family mining businesses in Arizona and Mexico, one of which at Ajo, Arizona later became a major copper producer. After his father's death in 1899, Benjamin Jacobs relocated his mother and younger sisters to Oakland, where nearby, he attended and briefly taught chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.