Charles Creighton

Born in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Charles Creighton was a British physician and medical author whose reputation rests largely on his historical writing about disease. He studied in Aberdeen, spent time in Berlin and Vienna, and became known as a formidable scholar of medical history.

His best-known work is A History of Epidemics in Britain, a major study of plague, smallpox, cholera, and other outbreaks. He also contributed medical articles to the Encyclopædia Britannica, earning respect for the range and depth of his learning.

Creighton's legacy is complicated. While admired for his historical research, he was widely criticized for rejecting germ theory and opposing vaccination, views that put him at odds with much of the medical profession of his time.