John Paulitious (died June 1645) was

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 ...

's first

plague doctor A plague doctor was a physician who treated victims of bubonic plague during epidemics in 17th-century Europe. These physicians were hired by cities to treat infected patients regardless of income, especially the poor, who could not afford to pay. ...

. He died in June 1645 of

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

within weeks of tending the sick. At the time, there was a severe

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

of this

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

in Edinburgh; it's believed that there were only about 60 men around to defend the city at the height of the epidemic. His successor was George Rae, who was appointed on 13 June 1645. He was promised an enormous sum of

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

("£100 a month") for this position, as it was expected that he, too, would die before he could collect; however, Rae survived and spent ten years attempting to collect his promised payment, but it is widely believed that he died without ever receiving it.

References

Year of birth missing 1645 deaths Medical doctors from Edinburgh 17th-century Scottish medical doctors Plague doctors 17th-century deaths from plague (disease) {{Scotland-med-bio-stub