David Malcolm Murray Lyon

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 ...

DPH (1888-1956) was an English physician and medical author. He was president of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

from 1945–47, and was editor of the

Edinburgh Medical Journal The ''Scottish Medical Journal'' is a general medical journal, which publishes original research in all branches of medicine, review articles, history of medicine articles, and clinical memoranda. The editor-in-chief is Ghulam Nabi (University ...

Life

He was born in

Wooler Wooler ( ) is a small town in Northumberland, England. It lies on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, near the Cheviot Hills. It is a popular base for walkers and is referred to as the "Gateway to the Cheviots". As well as many shops ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

on 12 September 1888. He was the son of Ebinizer (sic) Campbell and William Malcolm Lyon, a veterinary surgeon. He was educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

then studied medicine 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 ...

, graduating

MB ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in 1910. 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 ...

he served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

attached to the Cavalry Field Ambulance and saw action in both

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

and

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

. After the war he became Assistant physician at

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 ...

under Jonathan Meakins, jointly working on

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

research, and being joined by

Charles George Lambie Charles George Lambie FRSE MC (24 July 1891 – 28 August 1961) was a physician of Scots descent. He was the first doctor in Europe to use insulin in the treatment of diabetes. He came to later fame in the University of Sydney. Short of stature he ...

from 1922. He received his doctorate ( MD) in 1920 with his thesis ''The viscosity of the blood'' and a DSc in 1924 with his thesis ''Some observations on the action of adrenalin''. In 1924 he became Professor of Therapeutics at the

. In the same year he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

James Lorrain Smith James Lorrain Smith FRS FRSE FRCPE (21 August 1862 – 18 April 1931) was a Scottish pathologist known for his works in human physiology, especially his research on respiration in collaboration with John Scott Haldane. Life He was born in th ...

, Jonathan Campbell Meakins,

James Hartley Ashworth James Hartley Ashworth FRS FRSE DSc SZS (2 May 1874 – 4 February 1936) was a British marine zoologist. Life See He was born on 2, May 1874, in Accrington in Lancashire, the only son of James Ashworth. He spent most of his early life in Bu ...

, and

George Barger George Barger FRS FRSE FCS LLD (4 April 1878 – 5 January 1939) was a British chemist. Life He was born to an English mother, Eleanor Higginbotham, and Gerrit Barger, a Dutch engineer in Manchester, England. He was educated at Utrecht and T ...

. From 1936 he was Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. In 1946, he was elected to the

Aesculapian Club The Aesculapian Club of Edinburgh is one of the oldest medical dining clubs in the world. It was founded in April 1773 by Dr. Andrew Duncan. Membership of the Club is limited to 11 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh a ...

of Edinburgh. He died on 16 November 1956 at 8 Hailes Gardens in Edinburgh.

Publications

*''The Essentials of Medical Treatment'' (1940)

Family

He was married to Edith Dona Lloyd. Their children included Dr William Malcolm Murray Lyon (1920-2015), Dr Jean Malcolm Grant (1917-2006) and Dr Rae Llewelyn Lyon (d. 2018). He was the cousin of Dr Ranald Malcolm Murray-Lyon (1904-1969), a senior physician at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, David Malcolm Murray 1888 births 1956 deaths 20th-century British medical doctors Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century non-fiction writers People from Wooler Writers from Northumberland