Sir Daniel Macaulay Stevenson, 1st Baronet (1 August 1851 – 11 July 1944), was a Scottish politician, businessman and philanthropist, and former

Chancellor of the University of Glasgow The Chancellor is the titular head of the University of Glasgow and President of the General Council, by whom they are elected. The office is intended to be held for life. Their principal duty is to confer degrees upon those presented to them b ...

. His brother was Robert Macaulay Stevenson, a painter associated with the

Glasgow Boys The Glasgow School was a circle of influential artists and designers that began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. Representative groups included The Four (also known as the Spook School ...

Biography

Born in Glasgow in 1851, Stevenson made his fortune in the

shipbroking Shipbroking is a financial service, which forms part of the global shipping industry. Shipbrokers are specialist intermediaries/negotiators (i.e. brokers) between shipowners and charterers who use ships to transport cargo, or between buyers and ...

and coal exportation industries before being elected to the City Council as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

in 1882. Whilst on the Council, he was responsible for the Sunday-opening of the City's museums and galleries in 1898, the establishment of free branch libraries in 1899 and the introduction of a municipal telephone service in 1900. He was elected

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. Elected by the city councillors, the Lord Provost serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. The office is equiv ...

from 1911 until 1914, at which point he was awarded an honorary

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

by the University of Glasgow, and was created a Baronet, of Cleveden, Kelvinside, in the County of the City of Glasgow. He unsuccessfully contested the

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...

seat at the 1922 General Election. He received the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

in 1929. Stevenson devoted much of his time to charitable work, particularly improving international cohesion between young people following the

Great 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 inaugurated the Stevenson Lectureship in Citizenship was in 1921, and the Stevenson Chair of Italian and the Stevenson Chair of Spanish (now the Stevenson Chair in Hispanic Studies) in 1924, and in 1942 presented two gifts of £60,000 (more than £1.7m today) to the Engineering Department, and to the University for exchange scholarships with European universities. In 1936, Stevenson funded and established the Scottish Ambulance Unit led by Fernanda Jacobsen, which provided humanitarian assistance in Madrid during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. In 1934, Stevenson was elected

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the University, a post he held until his death. Following his death, the trustees of his estate donated significant sums to assist the construction of a physical recreation building at the University in 1960, now named the Stevenson Building, and for the establishment of the Stevenson Chair of French Language and Literature in 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Daniel Macaulay 1851 births 1944 deaths Chancellors of the University of Glasgow Lord Provosts of Glasgow Businesspeople from Glasgow Philanthropists from Glasgow Scottish Labour councillors Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Deputy Lieutenants of Glasgow