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- 1500 - 1799
1500 - 1799
1500s
Clement Litil
c 1530 - 1580
Advocate of a University in the City, benefactor and founder of the University's Library.
1600s
Sir Robert Sibbald
c 1641-1722
Graduate of the University, Professor of Medicine (1685 - 1722), founder of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
1700s
David Hume
1711 - 1776
Philosopher, historian, author of 'A Treatise of Human Nature', alumnus of the University.
General John Reid
1721 - 1807
Composer, musician, major benefactor of music at the University through the Reid Bequest, alumnus of the University.
John Witherspoon
1723 - 1794
Signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton), alumnus of the University.
James Hutton
1726 - 1797
Geologist, chemist, naturalist, father of modern geology, alumnus of the University.
Robert Adam
1728 - 1792
Creator of many fine buildings, architect of Old College, alumnus of the University.
James Boswell
1740 - 1795
Lawyer and diarist, biographer of Dr Samuel Johnson, alumnus of the University.
Benjamin Rush
1746 - 1813
Signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, medical graduate of the University.
Sir Walter Scott
1771 - 1832
Novelist, poet, historian, father of the historical novel, alumnus of the University.
Peter Mark Roget
1779 - 1869
Physician and philologist, author of the Thesaurus of English Words & Phrases, graduate of the University.
William Henry Playfair
1790 - 1857
Creator of many fine buildings, architect of the University's Old College and New College.
William Dick
1793 - 1866
Pioneer of Veterinary science and education, founder of the Royal Dick Veterinary School.
James Miranda Barry
c1795 - 1865
Army surgeon and Inspector General of Hospitals in Canada, lived as a man and believed to be the first woman graduate of the University (1812).
Thomas Carlyle
1795 - 1881
Historian, author of 'The French Revolution', alumnus and Rector of the University.
This article was published on Jul 21, 2008