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John Robison
(1739-1805)
Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Edinburgh
Born in Boghall, Stirlingshire and educated at the University of
Glasgow, the young John Robison entered the navy and accompanied Wolfe's
army to Quebec and the pyrrhic victory on the Plains of Abraham, as
a tutor to another young officer. He is credited with having brought
back the story that Wolfe would rather have written Thomas Gray's "Elegy
written in a country churchyard" than taken the Plains of Abraham.
Robison returned to a lecturing post at Glasgow vacated by Joseph
Black, and then accompanied Admiral Knowles to Russia to reorganise
the Imperial Fleet, in the course of which he was appointed to the Chair
of Mathematics with the Imperial Naval Cadet Corps in Kronstadt in 1772.
He returned to Scotland in 1773 to take the Chair of Natural Philosophy
at the University of Edinburgh, which he occupied until his death. He
was one of the leading scientists of his day, besides being an accomplished
musician and linguist. In 1789 he presented the Library with a Bible
in Russian (Moscow: 1767) and at his death the University and the Library
received an important collection of Russian historical medals which
Princess Ekaterina Daschkova had entrusted
to his care.
(Portrait by permission of the University of Edinburgh)
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