Samuel Clossy MB MD (''c.'' 1724 – 22 August 1786) was a pioneering

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and the first college professor of a medical subject in North America.

Early life and education

Samuel Clossy was born around 1724 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. His parents were Bartholomew Clossy, a wealthy city merchant, and Anne Ogle. He was educated in

Cashel, County Tipperary Cashel (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,422 in the 2016 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of ''Cashel''. Additionally, the ''cathedra'' of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel ...

, entering

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

(TCD), in 1739, sponsored by Dr William Stephens. He graduated with an MB in 1751. After some studying in London under the anatomist William Hunter, he was awarded his MD from TCD in 1755, and his licence of the Irish College of Physicians. He was elected a fellow of the College in 1761.

Career

Observations On some of the Diseases Of the Parts of the Human Body

At Dr Stephens' invitation Clossy undertook autopsy work in

Dr Steevens' Hospital Dr Steevens' Hospital (also called Dr Steevens's Hospital) ( ga, Ospidéal an Dr Steevens), one of Ireland's most distinguished eighteenth-century medical establishments, was located at Kilmainham in Dublin Ireland. It was founded under the terms ...

from 1752 to 1756, and was a member of the Medico-Philosophical Society, which gave him an expertise in pathology. He also contributed articles to ''Repository''. After a period of unofficial work for

Mercer's Hospital Mercer's Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Mercer) was a hospital in Dublin, Ireland. It was converted into a clinical centre and medical library for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1991. and drew on his work in Dr Steevens' Hospital and St George's Hospital, London. He emigrated to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in September 1763, where he had been promised a job at a planned military hospital. Having learnt that this hospital plan was floundering, he took up lecturing in anatomy, advertising the lectures in the ''New York Gazette and Post Boy'' on 17 November 1763 which were received "with delight". He was eventually employed as a tutor and then professor of natural philosophy in October 1765 at King's College. In 1767, he became the college's first professor of anatomy, making him the first college professor in a medical subject in North America. During his lectures, Clossy used the bodies of enslaved people for dissections. The

American war of independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and his declining health led him to return to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

late in 1780, where he spent 4 years trying unsuccessfully to find a new appointment. He addressed a sworn memorial to the Committee Appointed by Act of Parliament for Enquiring into the Losses and Services of the American Loyalists on 8 July 1784. He retired to Dublin with a pension, dying there on 22 August 1786. He had been elected an honorary fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians of Ireland The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), ( ga, Coláiste Ríoga Lianna na hÉireann) is an Irish professional body dedicated to improving the practice of general medicine and related medical specialities, chiefly through the accredit ...

in 1784. On 12 May 1759 he married Elizabeth Leech in St Andrew’s Church, Dublin, who survived him along with a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clossy, Samuel 1720s births 1786 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 18th-century Irish medical doctors Physicians of the Mercer's Hospital Physicians of Dr Steevens' Hospital Columbia University faculty