Robert Alexander Fleming

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". ...

(1862-1947) was a Scottish pathologist and medical author who served as President of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

1927–29.

Life

He was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

the son of Emma Lyle and Robert Whillans Fleming, a local merchant. He was educated at Larchfield Academy and Craigmount School. He then went to 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 ...

to study medicine, graduating with an MA in 1884 and MB CB in 1888. He then became senior lecturer in Clinical Medicine at the various Edinburgh medical colleges and university and senior 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 ...

. In 1893 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 ...

. In 1900 he was living at 10 Chester Street in Edinburgh's West End. In 1906 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 ...

. His proposers were Alexander Bruce,

Daniel John Cunningham Daniel John Cunningham, (15 April 1850 – 23 July 1909) was a Scottish physician, zoologist, and anatomist, famous for ''Cunningham's Text-book of Anatomy'' and ''Cunningham's Manual of Practical Anatomy''. Biography Cunningham was born ...

, Diarmid Noel Paton and

George Alexander Gibson George Alexander Gibson (27 January 1854 – 18 January 1913) was a Scottish physician, medical author, and amateur geologist. As an author, he wrote on the diverse fields of both geology and heart disease. The Gibson Memorial Lecture is named ...

. At this time he was living at 10 Chester Street in Edinburgh's West End. In the

First World War 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 served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

, first at the 2nd Scottish General Hospital then at the 42nd General Hospital as part of the

Salonika Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Expeditionary Force. In 1925 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 ...

. He died at Innerhadden at Kinloch Rannoch on 6 December 1947.

Publications

*''Short Practice of Medicine and Diseases of Spinal Nerves'' *''Allbut's System of Medicine: The Mental Element of Crime and Criminals''

Family

In 1897 he married Eleanor Mary Holland. Their children included

Launcelot Fleming William Launcelot Scott Fleming (7 August 1906 – 30 July 1990) was a Scottish Church of England, Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Portsmouth (Anglican), Bishop of Portsmouth and later the Bishop of Norwich. He was also noted as a geol ...

References

1862 births 1947 deaths People educated at Larchfield Academy People educated at Craigmount School Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish pathologists Scottish non-fiction writers People from Dundee 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-med-bio-stub