Arthur Gamgee

Arthur Gamgee
Born 11 October 1841
Florence, Province of Florence, Italy
Died 29 May 1909 (aged 67)
Paris, France
Cause of death
Pneumonia
Resting place
Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol, England
51°26′06″N 2°33′54″W / 51.435°N 2.565°W
Residence Edinburgh
Nationality British
Education University College School
Alma mater University of Edinburgh
Occupation Physiologist
Known for Founder of the Edinburgh Veterinary Review
Title
Spouse(s) Mary Louisa Clark (1875-1909)
Children One son, two daughters
Parent(s) Joseph Gamgee
Mary Ann West
Relatives
  • John Gamgee (brother)
  • Joseph Sampson Gamgee (brother)
  • D'Arcy Thompson (nephew)

Arthur Gamgee FRS (11 October 1841 – 29 May 1909)[2] was a British biochemist.[3]

Biography

Arthur Gamgee was the son of Joseph Gamgee, an Edinburgh veterinarian, and his wife Mary Ann West. He was born in Florence, Italy, where his father had a practice, but his family moved back to England when he was fourteen years old. He was educated at University College School in London and at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an M.D. in 1862. For his thesis, Contributions to the Chemistry and Physiology of Foetal Nutrition, he was awarded a gold medal.

He was made lecturer on physiology at Surgeon's Hall and Physician to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. In 1873 he was appointed Professor of Physiology at the Royal Manchester School of Medicine. He was also Physician to the Manchester Hospital for Consumption.[3] In 1872 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and delivered its Croonian Lecture in 1902. [4]

From 1884 to 1886 he was Fullerian Professor of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy at the Royal Institution of Great Britain;[5] he did not serve the full three years of the Fullerian appointment because he resigned his chair in 1886 to take up private practice.[6][7] He was also the author of A Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body: including an account of the chemical changes occurring in disease, published in 1880.[8]

Personal life

On 29 March 1909, he died of pneumonia during a visit to Paris. He was buried in the family vault in Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol. He married Mary Louisa Clark in 1875.

Arthur Gamgee was fluent in French, German, and Italian.[2] He was the brother of John Gamgee and Joseph Sampson Gamgee and uncle of D'Arcy Thompson.

References

  1. The 1909 obituary for Gamgee in the journal Nature claims that he was Fullerian Professor from 1882 to 1885, but the Nature obituary and several other sources are wrong.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Power D'A, Davies RE (2004). "Gamgee, Arthur (1841–1909)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edition. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33317. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "ARTHUR GAMGEE, M.D.Edin., F.R.C.P.Edin. and Lond., F.R.S". British Medical Journal 1 (2519): 933–934. 10 April 1909. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.2519.933-a. PMC 2318586.
  4. "Library and Archive catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  5. "Arthur Gamgee appointed Fullerian Professor for 3 years". Chemical News and Journal of Industrial Science 50. 1884. p. 21.
  6. "vacany in the Fullerian Professorship of Physiology". List of the Members, Officers, and Professors. Royal Institute of Great Britain. 1887.
  7.  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Gamgee, Arthur". Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. London: Smith, Elder & Co. This 1912 Supplement to the Dictionary of National Biography contains several errors.
  8. Gamgee, Arthur (1880). A Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body, including an account of the chemical changes occurring in disease. London: Macmillan.

Further reading

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
John Gray McKendrick
Fullerian Professor of Physiology
18841886
Succeeded by
George John Romanes