John Moore

Born in Stirling in 1729 and raised partly in Glasgow, he trained in medicine before building a successful career as a physician. Later, his life changed course when he traveled across Europe as companion and tutor to the young Duke of Hamilton, an experience that gave him the material for the books that made his name.

His best-known works include A View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, along with the novel Zeluco (1789), which helped secure his literary reputation. He also edited the works of Tobias Smollett, and his writing is remembered for mixing storytelling with keen social observation.

He spent time in both Glasgow and London and also wrote about revolutionary France after witnessing events there in 1792. He died in 1802, leaving behind a career that bridged medicine, travel writing, and fiction.