Samson Gemmell FRFPS (1848 – 2 April 1913) was a Scottish

paediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their yout ...

who became Regius Professor of Practice of Medicine at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Life

Gemmell was born in

Catrine Catrine is a village in the heart of East Ayrshire in Scotland, which was formerly a centre of cotton manufacture. It had a population of around in . Geography The village lies on the River Ayr which previously provided water power for local ...

in 1848 and was educated at Glasgow High School. He applied to the

to study art, with a goal of joining the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, but a childhood

deformity A deformity, dysmorphism, or dysmorphic feature is a major abnormality of an organism that makes a part of the body appear or function differently than how it is supposed to. Causes Deformity can be caused by a variety of factors: *Arthritis a ...

precluded this career move, and forced Gemmell to switch career to Medicine, graduating in 1872 with a Medicine (M.B.) and Surgery (C.M.) qualification with Honours. Gemmell never married.

Career

Gemmell had a number of junior positions before becoming a physician. His first role was working for one year as a

resident assistant A resident assistant (RA), also known by a variety of other names, is a trained peer leader who coordinates activities in residence halls in colleges and universities, mental health and substance abuse residential facilities, or similar establish ...

to Sir

William Tennant Gairdner Sir William Tennant Gairdner (8 November 1824 – 28 June 1907) was a Scottish Professor of Medicine in the University of Glasgow. Early life William Tennant Gardiner was born in Edinburgh, the son of physician John Gairdner and his wife, Su ...

at the

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

. From 1874 to 1877 Gemmell worked as

Physician assistant A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of non-physician practitioner. While these job titles are used internationally, there is significant variation in training and scope of practice from country to country, and sometimes be ...

to Dr JB Russell at the Glasgow Fever Hospital. Gemmell then became a demonstrator of Anatomy for the anatomist Allen Thomson. In 1887 Gemmell was appointed as a physician to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 1892 he was appointed to the same position at the

Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in Yorkhill in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015. History After the University of Glasgow moved ...

. In 1880, Gemmell became a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

(MD) and was appointed as Professor to the Chair of Systematic Medicine at the Anderson's College Medical School. In 1908 Gemmell was appointed to Regius Professor of Medicine, a position he held until 1913. Gemmell was assisted in this role by

Robert Stevenson Thomson Prof Robert Stevenson Thomson FRSE FFPSG (1858–1905) was a 19th-century British physician. Life He was born in Southampton to Scots parents. His father was a civil engineer and Robert's name appears a homage to the engineer Robert Stevenson. Th ...

. In 1888-1899 Gemmel became Professor of Clinical Medicine at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

and his position as Professor at Anderson's College was filled by Thomson. Gemmell died on 2 April 1913, possibly from a heart attack.

Chair

Gemmell had a brother called William Gemmell, who donated bequeathed £20,000 to the university, to be used either in the medical or science faculties. £20,000 was a substantial sum of money at the time, equivalent to £624,980 in August 2018. The money was used to establish the first Chair of Paediatrics in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. The first occupant in 1924, was

Leonard Findlay Leonard Findlay (5 February 1878, in Glasgow – 14 June 1947) was the pediatrician who was the first Leonard Gow Lecturer on the Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood. Findlay was also the first person to hold the Samson Gemmell Chair of ...

. The Chair of Paediatrics was renamed in 1947 to the Samson Gemmell Chair of Child Health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemmell, Samson 1848 births 1913 deaths Regius Professors Academics of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Glasgow People educated at the High School of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow People from Catrine