Dr John Gordon

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". ...

FRCSE (19 April 1786 – 14 June 1818) was a short-lived but influential Scottish

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

. In 1806 he served as president of the

Royal Medical Society The Royal Medical Society (RMS) is a society run by students at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Scotland. It claims to be the oldest medical society in the United Kingdom although this claim is also made by the earlier London-based ...

. In 1815 he caused an international stir by debunking the new science of

phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

and publicly criticising its principal European exponents,

Johann Spurzheim Johann Gaspar Spurzheim (31 December 1776 – 10 November 1832) was a German physician who became one of the chief proponents of phrenology, which was developed c. 1800 by Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828). Biography Spurzheim was born near Tr ...

and

Franz Joseph Gall Franz Joseph Gall or Franz Josef Gall (; 9 March 175822 August 1828) was a German neuroanatomist, physiology, physiologist, and pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain. Claimed as the founder of the pseudoscienc ...

Life

He was born on 19 April 1786 in

Forres Forres (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the County of Moray, Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several ...

in northern Scotland the son of John Gordon a wine-merchant and banker. He studied medicine at 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 ...

under Dr John Barclay and philosophy under

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hutc ...

. He gained his doctorate MD in 1805 aged 19. He then did further studies in anatomy in London. A prodigy, he served as President of the Royal Medical Society in 1806 aged just 20. On return to Edinburgh he taught

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

at his anatomy school at 9 Surgeons' Square, one of the earliest teachers in the

Edinburgh Extramural School of Medicine Extramural medical education in Edinburgh began over 200 years before the university medical faculty was founded in 1726 and distance learning, extramural teaching continued thereafter for a further 200 years. Extramural is academic education wh ...

. he served as a surgeon at the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Comi ...

on Drummond Street. 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 ...

in 1812. His proposers were Thomas Thomson,

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

and Thomas Allan. In June 1815 he published "The Doctorines of Gall and Spurzheim", which while criticising

also did much to publicise this then relatively unknown "science". Ironically in his criticism he gave a concise and erudite summary of the complex dimensions of phrenology, enabling it to be understood to a far wider audience. Gordon instead supported the views of

Reil Reil may refer to: *Reil (surname) * Reil, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Island of Reil, the insular cortex of the mammalian brain *Runway end identifier lights, abbreviated REIL People with the given name * Reil Cerva ...

. He lived at 19 Castle Street in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original Neoclassicism, neo-classical and Georgian architecture, Georgian period architecture. Its ...

.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1817-18 He died on 14 June 1818 aged 32 and was buried in

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 1 ...

. The large and simple monument stands near the centre of the western extension.

Family

He married the sister of

Andrew Rutherfurd, Lord Rutherfurd Andrew Rutherfurd, Lord Rutherfurd, (born Andrew Greenfield; 21 June 1791 – 13 December 1854) was a Scottish advocate, judge and politician. Early life Rutherfurd was born at Bristo Port (near Greyfriars Kirkyard) in Edinburgh on 21 June 179 ...

. Their son was

John Thomson Gordon John Thomson Gordon FRSE (1813-1865) was a Scottish advocate who served as Rector of Marischal College 1849-50 and Sheriff of Aberdeen 1847-48 and Edinburgh 1848–1852. Life He was born on 19 March 1813 at 14 Buccleuch Place in Edinburgh the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, John 1786 births 1818 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish anatomists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard