Matthew Guthrie (1743 – 30 August 1807) was a Scottish physician, mineralogist and traveller who rose to be councillor to the Russian royal family. He made extensive studies of Russian history and folklore, and did much to foster international relationships between Russia and Scotland and promote Russian culture. He was one of the founders 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 life closely paralleled that of Dr John Grieve and they were undoubtedly acquainted and probably friends. He was also a friend of

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

who had also visited Russia.

Life

He was born in

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 ...

in 1743, son of Henry (Harie) Guthrie, 9th Baron Haukerton (Halkerton) (1709–1794) and Rachel (née Milne, 1719–1746), and grandson of Rev Gideon Guthrie of Fetteresso and later Bishop of

Brechin Brechin (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Scottish Reformation, Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which contin ...

. His mother died when he was young. His father abandoned his title as Baron in 1747 following the Jacobite Rising of 1745 to avoid ill-feeling. His father remarried, to Elizabeth Tytler of Woodhouselee, younger sister of William Tytler. The family lived in the Nicholson area of Edinburgh, where the father worked as a lawyer in "Durie's Office". Guthrie attended the High School in Edinburgh then 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 ...

. He matriculated in 1764, there is no record of his graduation. He does appear to have trained as a surgeon. He went to Russia in 1769 and stayed there for most of his life. His initial role was as physician to the 1st and 2nd Imperial Corps of Noble Cadets in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He was granted an MD in Saint Petersburg in 1776. He later became a personal Councillor to both Tsar

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

and his wife,

Empress Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (; ) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, her numerous constructio ...

. In 1782 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

. In 1783 he was a Founding Fellow of the

. He died in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 30 August 1807.

Family

He was married to Marie or Maria Dunant (of French descent and sometimes called Marie de Romaud-Survesnes) on 31 May 1781 at the British Chaplaincy in Saint Petersburg in Russia. She had previously directed a convent school responsible for educating the female nobility of Russia. They had two daughters, Anastasia Jessie Guthrie (1782–1855) and Mary Elizabeth Guthrie (1789–1850). Anastasia married 59-year-old

Charles Gascoigne Charles Gascoigne (1737–1806) was a British industrialist at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Gascoigne was an architect, mechanic, inventor, businessman and industrialist. He spent the final twenty years of his life in the Russian ...

in 1797 when she was 15. Following Gascoigne's death in 1809 she married Thomson Bonar of Campden. Their daughter Anastasia Bonar (1812–1857) was the second wife of her cousin,

Patrick Fraser Tytler Patrick Fraser Tytler FRSE FSA (Scot) (30 August 179124 December 1849) was a Scottish advocate and historian. He was described as the "Episcopalian historian of a Presbyterian country". Life The son of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodho ...

. Guthrie's second daughter, Mary Elizabeth, married General Sir James Hay KCH. Guthrie's older sister Euphan married Charles Wright and was mother-in-law to Professor John Robison.

Publications

*''Original Anecdotes of Peter the Great'' (1793) *''Dissertation on the Antiquities of Russia'' (1795) *''Noctes Russicae - Russian Evening Recreations''

Literature

*Anthony Glenn Cross: ''By the Banks of the Neva'' *K.A. Papmehl: ''Matthew Guthrie -- The Forgotten Student of 18th Century Russia'' (1969)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Matthew 1743 births 1807 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 18th-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh