Dr Alexander Charles Stephen

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

PRPSE (17 December 1893 – 3 June 1966) was a 20th-century Scottish zoologist.

Life

He was born on 17 December 1893 in Garvock manse, near

Laurencekirk Laurencekirk (, , ), locally known as Lournie or simply 'The Kirk', is a small town in the historic county of Kincardineshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road. It is administered as part of Aberdeenshire. It is the l ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

the son of Rev William Stephen. He was educated at the Edinburgh Institution and

Robert Gordon's College Robert Gordon's College is a co-educational private school for day pupils in Aberdeen, Scotland. The school caters for pupils from Nursery through to S6. History Background Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant, made his fortune in 18th cent ...

. His studies of Chemistry and Zoology at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

were interrupted by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

during which he served with the Special Brigade of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and was gassed during the First Battle of the Somme in 1916. He served further at

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

before being called back to Britain in 1917 to apply his knowledge working in the Chemical Warfare Research Department in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Resuming his studies at Aberdeen after the war he graduated BSc in 1919. He served on the staff of the Fishery Board for Scotland 1920 to 1925 before gaining a position as Assistant Curator at the

Royal Scottish Museum The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...

in Edinburgh, being promoted to Keeper of the Museum in 1935. He spent the rest of his working life in this role. In 1929 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were James Ritchie, Sir

John Arthur Thomson Sir John Arthur Thomson (8 July 1861 – 12 February 1933) was a British naturalist who authored several books and was an expert on soft corals. Life Thomson was born at Pilmuir east of East Saltoun, East Lothian, the second son of Isabella ...

Percy Hall Grimshaw Percy Hall Grimshaw ISO FRSE FERS (1869 in Leeds – 1939 in Edinburgh) was an English entomologist and zoogeographer. He was an expert on butterflies (Lepidoptera). He is also known for his work on Diptera. Life He was born in Leeds the son o ...

, and

James Hartley Ashworth James Hartley Ashworth (2 May 1874 – 4 February 1936) was a British marine zoologist. Life See He was born on 2, May 1874, in Accrington in Lancashire, the only son of James Ashworth. He spent most of his early life in Burnley, attending t ...

. He was also President of the

Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh The Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh was a learned society based in Edinburgh, Scotland "for the cultivation of the physical sciences". The society was founded in 1771 as the Physico-Chirurgical Society but soon after changed its name to the ...

and President of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh. He retired in 1958 and died at home, 17 Cammo Crescent in north-west Edinburgh, on 3 June 1966.

Family

In 1936 he married Ann Borthwick.

Publications

*''Phyla, Sipincula and Echiura'' (1972)

References

1893 births 1966 deaths People educated at Robert Gordon's College People from Laurencekirk Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish zoologists Presidents of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh {{UK-zoologist-stub