List of Edinburgh people
This list contains famous or notable people (or groups) who have either been born or based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Arts
- James Adam, architect, (1732-1794), son of William Adam
- John Adam, architect, (1721-1792), eldest son of William Adam
- Robert Adam, architect of Charlotte Square and other notable buildings, son of William Adam
- William Adam, architect of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and father of Robert Adam
- Robert Adamson) (1821-1848) photographer
- Sir Robert Rowand Anderson (1834-1921), architect whose works include the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
- Bay City Rollers, pop group from the 1970s
- Hippolyte Blanc (1844-1917) architect
- Ewen Bremner, actor
- Rory Bremner, impressionist and comedian
- David Bryce, architect
- William Burn, architect
- Nicky Campbell, radio and television presenter
- Ian Charleson, actor
- Sean Connery, actor[1]
- Ronnie Corbett, a Scottish comedian and actor, best known as one of The Two Ronnies[2]
- Robert Craig, designer of Edinburgh New Town
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in the city's New Town
- Al Fairweather, Jazz musician
- Bridget Forsyth, actress, best known for playing Thelma in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads
- Kirsty Gallacher, television presenter
- Isabella Glyn, (1823-1889) well-known Victorian-era actress
- Hannah Gordon, actress
- James Gillespie Graham, (1776-1855), architect
- Thomas Hamilton, (1784-1858), architect
- David Octavius Hill (1802 - 1870) painter and collaborator with Robert Adamson
- Eugene Kelly, Member of The Vaselines
- Grant Kirkhope, musician, composer for music in video games, sound Designer
- Sir Harry Lauder, vaudeville singer, entertainer, and composer, of great acclaim.
- Robert Scott Lauder, artist and portrait painter.
- Lucinda Ledgerwood, Apprentice (UK series 4) candidate
- John Leslie, television presenter[3]
- John Lessels (1809–1883), architect
- Shirley Manson, lead singer for the band Garbage
- Magnus Magnusson, television presenter and author
- David MacGibbon (1831-902), architect and president of the Edinburgh Architectural Association
- Frances McKee, Member of The Vaselines. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter was named after Frances because of Cobain's love of The Vaselines.
- William Miller, 19th century engraver and watercolourist
- Alexander Nasmyth, landscape and portrait painter
- Eduardo Paolozzi, Sculptor and Artist, born in Leith
- John Patterson (died 1832), architect who assisted with the Old College, University of Edinburgh
- John Dick Peddie, (1824-1891), architect and politician
- John More Dick Peddie, (1853-1921), architect
- Pilot, pop group from the 1970s
- William Henry Playfair, (1790–1857), architect of the National Gallery of Scotland and the Royal Scottish Academy
- Gail Porter, television presenter
- Benjamin Marcus Priteca, (1889-1971), theatre architect
- John Rae, jazz musician and composer
- Sir Henry Raeburn, portrait artist
- Allan Ramsay (1713-1784), painter
- Ian Richardson, actor
- David Roberts, 19th century painter and lithographer
- Witold Rybczynski, (born 1943), architect
- Alistair Sim, Scottish character actor
- Finley Quaye, singer-songwriter
- Alexander Stoddart, neoclassical sculptor
- Ken Stott, film and television actor, born in Edinburgh
- George Watson, painter
- William Weir, architect
Authors
- R M Ballantyne, author of The Coral Island and other books for boys
- James Boswell, author, biographer of Samuel Johnson
- George Mackay Brown, poet and storyteller
- John Brown, essayist
- Ron Butlin, poet and Edinburgh Makar 2008 onward
- Alison Cockburn, poet 1712 - 1794
- Henry Thomas, Lord Cockburn author of Memorials of His Time
- Stewart Conn, poet and Edinburgh Makar 2002 - 2005
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in the city's New Town
- Gavin Douglas, medieval poet
- William Dunbar, medieval poet
- Adam Ferguson, philosopher and historian
- Robert Fergusson, poet
- Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE, poet, writer, artist and gardener.
- Robert Garioch, poet
- Valerie Gillies, poet and Edinburgh Makar 2008 - 2008
- Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows
- Alan Jackson, poet
- Kathleen Jamie, poet
- Sir Ludovic Kennedy, journalist, broadcaster and author
- Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, notable academic, novelist, and writer, etc.
- Frances Leviston, poet
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, poet and Edinburgh MP
- Norman MacCaig, poet
- Duncan Ban MacIntyre, Gaelic poet and a constable of Edinburgh City Guard
- Magnus Magnusson, television presenter and author
- William Topaz McGonagall, renowned as one the worst poets in the English language was born in Edinburgh
- Bruce Marshall, author of Father Malachy's Miracle
- Brian McCabe, poet
- Candia McWilliam, novelist
- John Mein, newspaper and almanack publisher; bookseller
- Naomi Mitchison, novelist and poet
- Hugh Miller, (1802–1856), writer, geologist, folklorist, and evangelical Christian
- John Playfair, scientist and professor
- Finley Quaye, singer-songwriter
- Allan Ramsay (1686 — 1758), poet and father of the painter of the same name
- Dilys Rose, poet
- Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of books and many children's novels and Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh University
- Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus series of crime thrillers, attended the University of Edinburgh[4]
- Tessa Ransford, poet and founder of the Scottish Poetry Library
- J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter author,[5] wrote her first book in Edinburgh coffee-shop, Nicholson's[6] and[7]
- Sir Walter Scott, (1771-1832), novelist, was born in Edinburgh.
- Sidney Goodsir Smith, poet
- Muriel Spark, novelist, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie[8]
- Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, wrote fondly of the city before moving to Samoa
- James Thomson, poet
- Patrick Fraser Tytler, Scottish historian
- Nigel Tranter (1909-2000), historian, writer, lived in Edinburgh
- Irvine Welsh, novelist, author of e.g. Trainspotting, is from Edinburgh.
Medicine, Science and Engineering
- Charles Bell, Scottish anatomist, surgeon, physiologist and natural theologian born in Edinburgh
- Alexander Graham Bell, telephone pioneer, was born in Edinburgh.[9]
- Joseph Black, physician, physicist, and chemist
- Alexander Crum Brown FRSE FRS (1838–1922), organic chemist
- Eustace Chesser, psychiatrist
- Fergus I. M. Craik, cognitive psychologist, born in Edinburgh, and studied at the University of Edinburgh
- Norman Dott, neurosurgeon and President of the Society for British Neurological Surgeons
- Peter Higgs, theoretical physicist, emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh
- James Hutton, Scottish Geologist, renowned as the "Father of Geology" was born in Edinburgh
- Elsie Inglis, innovative doctor and suffragist
- Sophia Jex-Blake, leading campaigner for medical education for women
- James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist
- John Napier, mathematician, mainly remembered for the invention of logarithms[10]
- James Nasmyth, inventor of the steam hammer
- Robert Knox, anatomist, purchaser of bodies from Burke and Hare
- James Young Simpson, an obstetrician who conducted the first experimental use of chloroform for anaesthesia[11]
- D'Arcy Wentworth Thomson, Zoologist and Mathematician. Author of the influential book "On Growth and Form".[12]
- Professor Ian Wilmut, contributor to the Dolly the Sheep project, the world's first cloned mammal
- Charles Darwin, the biologist who discovered natural selection, studied in University of Edinburgh
Royalty
Sports
- Alex Arthur, professional super featherweight boxer
- Mark Beaumont, holds the Guiness World Record for "Fastest True Circumnavigation of the World by Bicycle"
- Stewart Bruce, cricketer
- Ken Buchanan, boxer former world lightweight champion
- Craig Gordon, football goalkeeper for Sunderland and Scotland
- James Alexander Gordon, football results broadcaster, born in Edinburgh
- Gavin Hastings, former Scottish Rugby Captain, born in Edinburgh
- Scott Hastings, former Scottish rugby player and rugby commentator, born in Edinburgh
- Andy Irvine, rugby internationalist
- Johnny Haynes, footballer who spent his retired years in Edinburgh
- Chris Hoy, Scottish track cyclist and Olympic Games gold and silver medal winner
- Hugh Kelsey, international bridge player and author.
- Don Revie, footballer and football manager
- Alan MacDonald, international rugby union player.
- Steven MacLean, footballer currently with Plymouth Argyle F.C.
- Gordon Shedden, BTCC racing car driver, born in Edinburgh
- Graeme Souness, football manager
- Gordon Strachan, football manager
- Mike Heatlie, Gwen Stefani's former personal trainer
- David Wilkie, MBE, Olympic games and Commonwealth games champion swimmer
- George Farm - former Scotland, Blackpool and Queen of the South F.C. goalkeeper and Scottish Cup winning manager with Dunfermline Athletic.
- Garry O'Connor, football striker for Hibernian
- David Morris, football catering for Adelaide United, also world all you can eat pie champion
- Scott Mclean, fish breeding of exotic types, also the largest domestic fish tank
Miscellaneous
- David Brown, the first recorded Jew in Edinburgh (1693)
- William Burke and William Hare, serial killers; sold the bodies of their victims to the medical college for dissection
- Helen Crummy, Community activist and principal founder of the Craigmillar Festival Society
- Alexander Donaldson (bookseller), publisher
- James Donaldson (publisher), publisher; founder of Donaldson's Hospital
- George Drummond Lord Provost and major supporter of the New Town, Edinburgh
- Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Home Secretary and 18th century Tory politician
- James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 -1650), nobleman and general during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, executed in Edinburgh
- Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig was born in Edinburgh
- George Heriot, goldsmith and philanthropist
- Sam Houser, President of Rockstar Games and Executive Producer of the Grand Theft Auto franchise since the third game
- David Hume, philosopher and historian
- John Knox, Protestant Reformer, lived in Edinburgh, and the so-called John Knox's House is preserved in the High Street
- John Porteous, captain of the city guard, lynched during the Porteous Riots of 1736
- Adam Smith, economist, author of The Wealth of Nations
- Archibald Cleghorn (1835–1910) married into royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii
- Sir Charles Tupper, one of the Fathers of the Confederation who formed the Dominion of Canada in 1867, and later the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, educated at the University of Edinburgh.
- John Witherspoon, only clergyman to sign the American Declaration of Independence, president of Princeton University, educated in Edinburgh.[13]
- Elaine Davidson, holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Pierced Woman"
- Tony Blair, British Prime Minister 1997-2007, was born in Edinburgh in 1953
- Charles Umpherston Aitchison, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab
References
- ^ BBC News - Connery: Bond and beyond - 21 December, 1999 - [1]
- ^ Edinburgh Evening News - I won't say goodnight yet . . - 4 November 2006 - [2]
- ^ Edinburgh Evening News - Leslie plots his comeback in the jungle - 16 October 2006
- ^ CNN - Q&A: Ian Rankin - posted 4 October 2006 - accessed 15 November 2006 - "I came here in 1978 to go to university "
- ^ Collinson, Patrick. "Rub shoulders with Brucie for £4.3m, or Tony for £7,250". Guardian Unlimited, 26 April 2005. Accessed 21 March 2006.
- ^ The Scotsman - The JK Rowling story - Stephen McGinty - 16 June 2003
- ^ [3] - Rosalind Gibb and John Gibson - 10 October 2006
- ^ BBC News - Obituary: Dame Muriel Spark - 15 April 2006
- ^ Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Alexander Graham Bell
- ^ John Napier Biography University of St Andrews School of Mathematics and Statistics website - Accessed 15 November 2006
- ^ Sir James Young Simpson - The Institute of Geography, University of Edinburgh - Accessed 15 November 2006
- ^ University of Dundee Website - Lecture Theatre renamed in honour of D'arcy Thompson - 14 March 2006
- ^ Princeton Companion entry
See also