Catherine Margaret Una Maclean FRCP (3 July 1925 – 1 September 2012) was a medical doctor in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, and

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, as well as an author and long-time lecturer in social 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 ...

Early life

Una Maclean was born in

Applecross Applecross ( , 'The Sanctuary', historically anglicized as 'Combrich') is a peninsula in Wester Ross, in the Scottish Highlands. It is bounded by Loch Kishorn to the south, Loch Torridon to the north, and Glen Shieldaig to the east. On its wes ...

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to th ...

, in the highlands of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The daughter of Reverend C. Maclean and his wife, she was raised in a deeply religious environment which led her to become a staunch atheist and humanist throughout the rest of her life. Attending

Dingwall Academy Dingwall Academy is the largest secondary school in the Highlands of Scotland, with an enrolment of 1,048 pupils as of August 2018. The academy is situated in the centre of Dingwall and brings in pupils from Conon Bridge, Maryburgh, Muir of O ...

, she continued her studies at the University of Edinburgh, from which she graduated at the top of her class with an MB in 1949. This degree was later followed by a D.Ph. (1964), an MD (1965), and a PhD (1967).

Career

Following graduation, she married Dr Peter Cockshott with whom she had her first child, a son. In 1952, her growing family relocated to the

Aden Protectorate The Aden Protectorate ( ') was a British protectorate in southern Arabia. The protectorate evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut after the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India in January ...

, where – being the only female doctor – she took up a post caring for Muslim women living in harems of local traders. During this time, she gave birth to her second child, a daughter. A second posting, this time in

, allowed her to apply her medical knowledge more fully, persuading local doctors to allow their patients to benefit from western medicine. A third child, a second son, was born here. During this time, she met

John Mackintosh John Mackintosh may refer to: * John Mackintosh (luthier) (–1840), Irish luthier and professor * John MacKintosh (1790–1881), farmer and politician in Prince Edward Island * John Mackintosh (soldier) (1797–1846), British military aide-de-ca ...

, to whom she was married from 1963 until his death in 1978. Returning to Scotland, Una Maclean took up a lecturing post in the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where she taught for twenty-three years. Her main research interests concerned cancer research, blood transfusion, and smallpox.

Selected publications

Una Maclean was a prolific writer, publishing five books and more than fifty peer-reviewed articles over the course of her career.

Books

* ''Magical medicine: a Nigerian case-study'' (1971). * ''Social and community medicine for students'' (1971). * ''Nursing in Contemporary Society'' (1974). * ''Heart attack: survival, recovery, prevention'' (1981). * ''Dependent territories: the frail elderly and community care'' (1989).

Articles

* ''Three views of The swamp dwellers'' (1959). * ''The Usher Institute and the evolution of community medicine in Edinburgh'' (1975). * ''Folk medicine and fertility: aspects of Yoruba medical practice affecting women'' (1982).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Una 1925 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century Scottish women writers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British expatriates in Nigeria People from Ross and Cromarty