Alumni in history

One of the first woman MPs, prominent socialist, and leading founder of the Open University.

Sharp-witted poet famed for his wry commentaries on Edinburgh life.

The first woman to graduate with BD and PhD degrees from New College.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death, we look at the life of John P. Mackintosh - politician, professor, writer, and proponent of Scottish devolution.

Eminent surgeon, pioneer of medical anaesthesia, and advocate for women working in surgery and medicine.

Regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest mathematicians and Chair of Pure Mathematics at the University from 1946 to 1965.

Celebrated stage and film actor who played fellow graduate Eric Liddell in 'Chariots of Fire'.

Missionary, child health pioneer, and the first female Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

Judge, philosopher and founder of modern comparative historical linguistics.

Scottish theologian and Church of Scotland minister.

Following this month's General Election, we take a look at the life of former Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston.

Scottish poet and diarist, known for his ‘bairn rhymes’, and recently honoured by the City of Edinburgh.

Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and the father of the object relations theory of psychoanalysis.

Industrialist, politician and inventor who became known for her battle with the US taxman.

Academy Award-winning screenplay writer, novelist and captain of Dundee United.

Celebrated Scottish astronomer, soldier and Governor of New South Wales.

Scottish naturalist, polar scientist and oceanographer who led the first and only Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.

October 2016 marks the tercentenary of the birth of James Lind, the Edinburgh alumnus who pioneered the use of citrus fruits to treat scurvy.

The first practising women surgeon in Scotland and a trailblazer for future generations of female medical students.

The founder of modern geology, James Hutton lived a colourful life before devoting himself to the study of the origins of the Earth.

Madras-born Scottish physician, pioneering botanist and forest conservationist in India.

A church minister who invented an engine that was two centuries ahead of its time and is just coming into its own.

The first British woman to qualify as a dentist and the first female president of the British Dental Association.

The most influential thinker of the Scottish Enlightenment and one of the greatest philosophers of all time.

German-born physicist and spy who was arrested and convicted for giving vital atomic-research secrets to the Soviet Union.

Sculptor and Edinburgh College of Art graduate who left her mark on Ashworth Laboratories at King’s Buildings.

A scholar and physician best known for publishing the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.

The first female member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society and one of the first women to graduate from the University in 1893.

Prior to his infamous involvement in the Burke and Hare murders, Robert Knox was a renowned lecturer of anatomy, esteemed zoologist, ethnologist and doctor.

The world’s eighth longest serving monarch with a reputation for progressive thinking was also the only Maharaja to be awarded a degree.

A prominent career as a painter led her to be the first woman to become an Academician of the Royal Scottish Academy and an influential member of the Scottish art world.

Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer who wrote much the loved classics ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.’

Canadian-American inventor and engineer and possible source of the phrase, "the real McCoy”.

British physician and pioneer for medical education for women, Sophia Jex-Blake studied medicine at Edinburgh but was forced to take her degree in Switzerland.

Naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin’s radical ideas shaped modern thinking about where we come from.

A Jewish-German zoologist and geneticist who fled Nazism in Germany to pursue her PhD in genetics at the University of Edinburgh.

One of Scotland’s most significant 20th century poets who helped to usher in a new era for Gaelic Poetry.

One of Scotland’s greatest novelists and dramatists and remembered fondly by many as the creator of Peter Pan.

A distinguished career in Chemistry led her to be one of the first five women to be elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

A Scot who helped to shape America as a signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

The University's first female science graduate, but also a pioneering feminist and pacifist.

A leading figure of the 18th Century Scottish Enlightenment and a major exponent of the Scottish common sense school of philosophy.

Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary.

Edinburgh Zoology graduate and long-time Director of Strangeways Research Laboratory.

A botanist whose studies of human coprolite analysis regarded as essential in our understanding of ancient life and human origins.

A pioneering British Army surgeon and, in all probability, the daughter of a grocer from Cork.

Founder of the Edinburgh Botanical Society and an influential figure in the promotion and understanding of botanical sciences.

Alumnus who solved the two greatest mysteries of 19th-century Arctic exploration.

Archaeology graduate and former President of South Korea.

A medical graduate from Haddington who moved south and became the father of the modern self-help book.