David Fyfe Anderson was born on 8 June 1908 , only son of David Fyfe Anderson and Mary Ann Mackay of Viewfield, Strathaven, South Lanarkshire. He married Elizabeth Rose McAusland of Wyndyknowe, Scotstounhill, Glasgow and had three sons and one daughter. He was educated at Strathaven Academy and the High School of Glasgow. A gifted student he was dux medallist at both schools. He proceeded to the University of Glasgow in 1921 and was awarded the William Gardiner Bursary for Medicine. He achieved an MB ChB with commendation in October 1926 .
David Anderson held several residents posts in Glasgow and then chose to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology. In 1930 , he became Assistant Surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital and was at the same time appointed to the Royal Samaritan Hospital. He was awarded an MD by the University of Glasgow in 1935 for his thesis 'Studies, biochemical and clinical, on the toxaemias of pregnancy'. He was Rockefeller travelling fellow in 1935-1936 going to Johns Hopkins University and Hospital in Baltimore. In 1937, he became visiting obstetric surgeon in charge of wards at the Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital. He was Professor of Midwifery and Diseases of Women at the Anderson College of Medicine and on the College's absorption into the University of Glasgow, was appointed to the Muirhead Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He retired from this post in 1970 .
His interests away from his profession were diverse and he was a well known figure in the City of Glasgow being made a freeman. He was a member of three incorporations - the Barbers, Bonnetmakers & Dyers and Tailors and was for two periods Deacon of the Tailors. He was an elder of the Church of Scotland for over 50 years, an organist and contributed regularly to the Church of Scotland's magazine Life & Work . In 1973 , he became an Officer of Order of St John of Jerusalem. Amongst his colleagues, his talent for poetry gained him the title of "Bard of Rottenrow". He remained Emeritus Professor at the University of Glasgow until his death on 5 July 1988 . His obituary in the British Medical Journal records him as "primarily a first class teacher and clinician. He prided himself on his clinical care and devoted his life to patients at Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital , for which he had a particular empathy."
From the guide to the Papers of David Fyfe Anderson, 1904-1988, obstetrician and gynaecologist, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1921-1926, (Glasgow University Archives Service)
