| Description Of Item | Oil on canvas, 71.2 x 53.3 cm
Alexander Russell Simpson (1835–1916) was born in Bathgate and educated at Bathgate Academy. He obtained an MD from Edinburgh University and then carried out postgraduate study in Berlin, Halle, Wurzburg and Montpellier.
During this time abroad, he acquired several languages which were to prove valuable in keeping in touch with continental medicine. Alexander Simpson decided to specialise in obstetrics and became closely associated with his uncle, Professor James Young Simpson, who was then at the height of his power. The young Simpson assisted in university work, in hospitals and in private practice. From Blythwood Square he conducted, for five years, a large general practice with a special interest in obstetrics. After his uncle's death in 1870 he was elected to the Chair of Midwifery in Edinburgh University in the face of considerable competition. The new Professor was aged 35 when appointed and for 35 years he fulfilled his duties at the University, the Royal Infirmary and the Maternity Hospital, unchallenged in leadership, abreast of advances, and esteemed as a man at home and abroad.
Artist: Thomas Martine Ronaldson |