Scottish obstetrician; introduced use of chloroform.
English physician.
James Young Simpson, 1st Baronet, graduated MD from Edinburgh University in 1832. He was made President of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh in 1835 and became Professor of Midwifery at the University in 1839. In 1850 Simpson was elected president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and, in 1866, received a baronetcy. He is especially famous for his advocacy and use of chloroform in obstetric practice, but is also renowned for his work in gynaecology and obstetrics, particularly in the use of forceps and for various methods of ovariotomy.