Joseph Warwick Bigger (11 September 1891 – 17 August 1951) was an Irish politician and academic. He was an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

member of

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

from 1947 to 1951. Bigger was born on 11 September 1891 in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Ireland. His parents were Sir

Edward Coey Bigger Sir Edward Coey Bigger (1861 – 1 June 1942) was an Irish politician and physician. He was an independent member of Seanad Éireann from 1925 to 1936. He was first elected to the Seanad at the 1925 election for 9 years. He was re-elected at the ...

and Maude Coulter Warwick. In 1900, his family moved to Dublin due to appointment of his father as medical inspector under the Local Government Board of Ireland. He attended Presbyterian College in North Carolina and later,

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. Soon after his graduation from the Trinity College, he was appointed as a demonstrator in pathology and bacteriology at

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

in South Yorkshire, England. However, in 1919 he returned to Dublin and became pathologist and medical inspector under the Local Government Board and the professor of forensic and preventive medicine at the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

in 1920. He served as the professor of preventive medicine and bacteriology at Trinity College from 1924 to 1950. In 1936, Bigger was appointed dean of the medical school at Trinity College where he served until 1939. In 1950 he was elected an honorary fellow of

. He was first elected to the Seanad at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

on 22 November 1947 by the Dublin University constituency. The vacancy was caused by the appointment of T. C. Kingsmill Moore as a judge of the High Court. He was re-elected at the 1948 election. He did not contest the 1951 election. He is credited with being the first to report the phenomenon of bacterial antibiotic persistence. He married Patricia Mai Curtin in 1916; and they had one son and one daughter. Bigger died on 17 August 1951, aged 59.

Bibliography

*1935 – ''Handbook of bacteriology for students and practitioners of medicine'' *1941 – ''Man Against Microbe ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigger, Joseph Warwick 1891 births 1951 deaths Academics of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Independent members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 5th Seanad Members of the 6th Seanad Members of Seanad Éireann for Dublin University Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Politicians from Belfast