John Dixon Comrie (28 February 1875 – 2 October 1939) was a Scottish physician, historian of medicine, and the editor of the first edition of ''

Black's Medical Dictionary ''Black's Medical Dictionary'' (42nd ed, 2010, ) is a comprehensive medical dictionary featuring definitions of medical terms, concepts and conditions, published by A & C Black Publishers. It was first published in 1906, and is now in its forty- ...

''.

Biography

Comrie studied at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, graduating with M.B. degree and first-class honours in 1899. He became a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

in 1906 and took a M.D. degree from Edinburgh in 1911, before positions in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Infirmaries. After that he did post-graduate studies in Berlin and Vienna, worked as clinical assistant at the National Hospital in London, and finally settled at

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, where he became known as pathologist, physician to the Royal Infirmary, and consulting physician to the Deaconess Hospital and the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital for Crippled Children. During

World War I 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 ...

he acted as consulting physician to the

North Russian Expeditionary Force The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought a ...

, reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. His father was also John Dixon Comrie (died before October 1939). In 1929 he was elected a member of the

Harveian Society of Edinburgh The Harveian Society of Edinburgh was founded in April 1782 by Andrew Duncan (physician, born 1744), Andrew Duncan. The Society holds an annual Festival in honour of the life and works of William Harvey, the physician who first correctly des ...

and in 1932 he was elected a member of the

Aesculapian club The Aesculapian Club of Edinburgh is one of the oldest medical dining clubs in the world. It was founded in April 1773 by Dr. Andrew Duncan. Membership of the club is limited to 11 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and ...

. In 1933, Comrie authored ''Diet in Health and Sickness'' which was positively reviewed in the ''British Medical Journal'' as a reliable guide to

dietetics A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

for practitioners.

Selected publications

*''

'' (1906 and later editions) *''History of Scottish Medicine to 1860'' (London, Baillière, Tindall & Cox, 1927)
''Diet in Health and Sickness''
(1933) * *

References

External links

John Comrie papers
at

The National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comrie, John 1875 births 1939 deaths 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Dietitians Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians People educated at George Watson's College Scottish medical historians Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of the Russian Civil War British Army personnel of World War I Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh