Jöns Jacob Berzelius, a Swedish chemist, named protein in 1838.
While Dutch chemist Gerardus Johannes Mulder is credited with the first description of proteins, it was Berzelius who suggested the name. The name "protein" comes from the Greek word "proteios," meaning "of the first rank" or "primary substance," reflecting the belief at the time that proteins were the most important molecules in living organisms.
Berzelius' suggestion was based on the importance Mulder ascribed to the substance in animal nutrition. Mulder had observed that a certain nitrogen-containing substance was common to all living matter and concluded it was the starting point for all other organic compounds.
Therefore, although Mulder identified and studied proteins, the formal naming credit goes to Berzelius.
