Norman McOmish Dott,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FRCSE The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

FRSE

FRCSC The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (french: Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada) is a regulatory college which acts as a national, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to o ...

(26 August 1897 – 10 December 1973) was a Scottish

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

. He was the first holder of the Chair of Neurological Surgery at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Life

Norman Dott was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

on 26 August 1897, the third of the five children of Rebecca Morton (1864–1917) and Peter McOmish Dott (1856–1934), a picture dealer based at 127 George Street in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Stree ...

. He was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...

and originally intended a career in engineering. However a serious motorcycle accident on Lothian Road, hospitalised him and left him with a permanent leg injury (also rendering him unfit for service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

). The long spell in hospital re-inspired Dott and he changed his ambition to focus upon medicine rather than engineering. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating M.B. in 1919 and gained a Ph.D. in 1922. In 1923 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

. He then received a Rockefeller Travelling Scholarship, allowing him to travel to America to study further in Boston under Processor Harvey Williams Cushing. In 1932 he began lecturing at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1947 received the Professorship in Neuro-Surgery (one of the first in the world). Meanwhile, he also worked in Royal Hospital for Sick Children, and conducted private brain surgery from a premises in the New Town. In 1938 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were

Edwin Bramwell Edwin Bramwell FRSE PRCPE LLD (1873–1952) was a 20th-century Scottish neurologist. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from 1933 to 1935. Life He was born in North Shields on 11 January 1873 the son of Martha ...

, Arthur Logan Turner,

Anderson Gray McKendrick Lt Col Anderson Gray McKendrick DSc FRSE (8 September 1876 – 30 May 1943) was a Scottish military physician and epidemiologist who pioneered the use of mathematical methods in epidemiology. Irwin (see below) commented on the quality of his wo ...

, and

William Thomas Ritchie Professor William Thomas Ritchie FRSE PRCPE LLD OBE (3 November 1873 – 7 February 1945) was a Scottish cardiologist who served as President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from 1935 to 1937. Life He was born on 3 November 1 ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he set up a specialist brain injuries unit at

Bangour Hospital Bangour Village Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located west of Dechmont in West Lothian, Scotland. During the First World War it formed part of the much larger Edinburgh War Hospital. History The hospital was modelled on the village system ...

west of Edinburgh. He was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) for this work in 1948. In 1960 he set up a Department of Neuro-Surgery at the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

, one of the first such facilities in the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. In 1962 he was made a Freeman of the City of Edinburgh. The

awarded him an honorary doctorate (MD) in 1969. The

Royal College of Surgeons of Canada The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (french: Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada) is a regulatory college which acts as a national, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to o ...

made him an Honorary Fellow in 1973. He retired in 1963, his chair being filled by Professor Francis Gillingham. He died in Edinburgh on 10 December 1973. There’s a ward at The Walton Centre, Liverpool dedicated to his memory. Portraits of Dott are held at the National Galleries of Scotland (a photograph by Grace Alison) and at the

(a painting by Sir William Hutchison). A biography of Dott was published in 1990 titled ''With Sharp Compassion''.

Family

He married Margaret ("Peggy") Robertson in 1932. They had a daughter named Jean.

Family background

The Dott family - formerly D'Ott or possibly De Ott - were of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

stock and had arrived in Scotland from the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

in the late 17th century, when they settled at

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fi ...

in Fife. Peter's father, Aitken Dott, had founded a picture-framing business in Edinburgh's South St David Street in 1842. In 1876 the young Peter Dott joined his father in the family business - later Aitken Dott & Sons - now removed to larger premises at Castle Street. Although she had been born at Birkenhead on Merseyside, Rebecca Dott's family were Ulster Scots. Having had a short-lived marriage in the 1880s, she had been a widow for several years when she married Peter Dott on 2 April 1894, at which time they settled in

Colinton Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...

on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

Life

Family

Family background

See also

References

Further reading and external links