William Hunter

Born in Scotland in 1718, he first studied at the University of Glasgow before moving into medicine. He built a major career in London as an anatomist, physician, and obstetrician, and was widely known as one of the leading teachers of anatomy of his time.

He is especially remembered for combining medical practice with careful observation, teaching, and writing. His famous work on the anatomy of the pregnant uterus became one of the landmark medical books of the eighteenth century, and his influence also extended through the training and encouragement of his younger brother, the surgeon John Hunter.

Beyond medicine, he was a serious collector of books, coins, manuscripts, and natural history specimens. Much of that collection was left to the University of Glasgow, helping form the foundation of what became the Hunterian Museum.