Dates

• Existence: 1797 - 1882

Biography

Robert Christison was born in Edinburgh on 18 July 1797. He was educated at the Royal High School and then at Edinburgh University, graduating in 1819. He was a resident medical assistant in the Royal Infirmary, 1817 to 1820, and a brief period of study in London followed, at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, before he went to Paris to study analytical chemistry which laid the foundations for his future reputation as a toxicologist. On his return to Edinburgh in 1821, he became involved right away in the contest for the Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at Edinburgh University, and Christison was appointed to the Professorship in 1822. He then set about giving a scientific basis to medical jurisprudence, particularly toxicology.

In his capacity as medical adviser to the Crown in Scotland, from 1829 to 1866, he acted as medical witness in nearly every prominent case in Scotland, including the trial of Burke and Hare and the trial of Madeleine Smith. In 1827 he was appointed physician to the Infirmary, and then in 1832 he resigned his Chair of Medical Jurisprudence and was appointed to the Chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics which he held until 1877.

In 1848, Christison was appointed Physician in Ordinary to the Queen in Scotland, and in 1871 he became a Baronet. He was elected twice as President of the Royal College of Physicians, 1839, and 1848, and was also President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1868-1873. Professor Sir Robert Christison died on 23 January 1882.

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