George John Romanes (1916-2014)

Professor John S Kelly remembers George John Romanes, Professor of Anatomy.

George Romanes was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, and then the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with a BA in 1938 and a PhD in 1942.

In 1944, he received his MBChB from Edinburgh after which he returned to Cambridge as a Beit Memorial Fellow.

In 1946, George was appointed Lecturer in Neuroanatomy at Edinburgh. He spent 1949-50 in the Department of Neurology in Columbia University, New York.

In 1954 he succeeded JC Brash as Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh. George's published papers established that the large neurones in the spinal cord supplying individual muscles are clustered together in discrete nuclei known as pools. Recently the location of the motor neurone pools has been shown to be genetically determined.

In 1959, George was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Associated Hospitals, and in 1971, he was made CBE in recognition of his contribution in this role.

From 1979 to 1983 George was Dean of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. For 21 years he edited the Journal of Anatomy and Cunningham's Textbook of Anatomy and the associated Manuals of Dissection. On his retiral in 1984 George continued his work on these text books.

He was never idle and turned the family's summer cottage on the edge of Loch Kishorn into a stunning and productive garden. Like his students at Edinburgh, his neighbours in Kishorn and Lochcarron were captivated by this wise, caring and courteous man.

He is survived by his four daughters and five grandchildren.

Notes:

John S Kelly is Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology.

A lecture and a reception will be held in the Anatomical Museum, Teviot Place, on 12 September to celebrate George Romanes' life and scholarship.