Alexander Dyce Davidson MD

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(24 August 1845 – 26 July 1896) was Scottish academic and surgeon. He was Professor of Materia Medica at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. He was described as a "sweet and amiable character". He specialised in ophthalmic surgery.

Life

Dyce studied Arts and Medicine at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

before 18 months further study in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He there studied ophthalmic surgery under Xavier Galezowski and Louis-Auguste Desmarres. During this period he also acted as ''externe'' (external consultant) at several of the Parisian hospitals.British Medical Journal: obituaries, 30 October 1886. He returned to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

around 1860, and was recognised as the foremost ophthalmic surgeon of his day, thereby acquiring a post of senior surgeon at the Blind Asylum in Aberdeen as well as senior surgeon at

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) is the largest hospital in the Grampian area, located on the Foresterhill site in Aberdeen, Scotland. ARI is a teaching hospital with around 900 inpatient beds, offering tertiary care for a population of over 600, ...

. Aberdeen University then asked him to lecture in Ophthalmic Surgery and Materia Medica (the latter initially under Prof Harvey). In 1878 he succeeded Prof Harvey as Professor of Materia Medica. He accumulated a large collection of ophthalmic instruments from around the globe (largely through correspondence). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1885. His proposers were Charles Edward Wilson,

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...

, Thomas Brown, and

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE (28 April 1831 – 4 July 1901) was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook ''Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he co-wrote wi ...

. In his latter years he lived at 224 Union Street in the heart of Aberdeen.Aberdeen Post Office Directory 1885-6 He died an hour after an apoplectic attack in front of his students during a lecture on 22 October 1886.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Alexander Dyce 1835 births 1886 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen Scottish surgeons Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Aberdeen