George Cleghorn

1716 - 1794

Medical pioneer. Born in Granton (Edinburgh), the son of a farmer, Cleghorn was educated at the parish school followed by the University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine under Alexander Monro (1697 - 1767). He was one of a group of students who established the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. He was appointed an army surgeon in Minorca (Balearic Islands). Returning to London he wrote a treatise entitled The Diseases of Minorca which, amongst other discoveries, showed that quinine bark acted as a cure for Malaria, a form of which was endemic in Britain at that time. He retired from the army and practiced medicine in Dublin.

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