Jacobus Bontius

Jacobus Bontius (Jacob de Bondt) (1592, in Leiden – 30 November 1631, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies) was a Dutch physician and a pioneer of tropical medicine.

His 1631 work "Historiae naturalis et medicae Indiae orientalis" introduced the word "Orang Hutan" into Western languages.

[1] Bontius was born in Leiden, the youngest child of eight of the physician Gerard de Bondt / Gerardus Bontius (1536–1599), professor at Leiden University.

Amongst his brothers were Reinier de Bondt / Regnerus Bontius (1576–1623), court physician to Maurice of Nassau, and Willem de Bondt / Wilhelmus Bontius, law professor at Leiden University.

[3] Bontius' medical observations were published after his death.