Steven, John Lindsay, 1858-1909, medical graduate, University of Glasgow, Scotland,

John Lindsay Steven was born in Glasgow in 1858 . His father, James Steven, was a ship builder. John attended the University of Glasgow from 1874-1880 , taking classes from the faculties of Arts and Medicine. After studying Logic in his first year; Mathematics and Botany in his second, and Anatomy (Juniors) and Chemistry in his third year, John then studied medicine for the remainder of his time at university. He was awarded 22 prizes in total, including the William Hunter medal for Zoology in 1878; the Cullen medal for Materia Medica, first prize for Pharmacy and first prize for Practical Physiology in 1879, and the Brunton Memorial prize for the most distinguished graduate of Medicine in 1880.

He graduated with an MBChB with honours in 1880 and almost as soon as he had completed his terms as a house surgeon and house physician at the Western Infirmary , Glasgow, he was appointed Assistant to the Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Glasgow , a position which he held from 1882-1890 . He was appointed Pathological Chemist (and later Assistant Physician) at Western Infirmary , Glasgow, in 1883, joined the dispensary staff at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children , Glasgow, and in 1890, was appointed Pathologist at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary . In July 1884 he was awarded an MD with high commendation for his thesis The Pathology of Suppurative Inflammations of the Kidney, (1884) and in 1889 he became a fellow of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. In 1890 he was appointed Lecturer (and later Professor) of Pathological Studies at St Mungo's College , Glasgow and the following year at Queen Margaret College , Glasgow.

In 1891, he became joint editor (and later sole editor) of the Glasgow Medical Journal, a position which he held for the next eleven years. He was appointed Physician and Lecturer of Clinical Medicine at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1896, Lecturer on the Practice of Medicine at Queen Margaret College , Glasgow, in 1901 and elected as a representative to the General Medical Council in 1903. His list of publications is extensive, numbering at least 102 books and articles. These include On a Case of Pyelo-nephritis with Micrococci (1882), On the Pathological Anatomy of Tuberculosis of the Uterus and Fallopian Tubes (1883), The Tubercular Bacillus and its Relation to Phthisis Pulmonalis 1883), The Pathology of Suppurative Inflammations of the Kidney (1884), The Leprosy Bacillus in The British Medical Journal 18 July 1885 (1885), Case of Hydatid Cyst of the Right Kidney (1885), Practical Pathology: an Introduction to the Practical Study of Morbid Anatomy and Histology (1887), On Fibroid Degeneration and Allied Lesions of the Heart, and their Association with Disease of the Coronary Arteries (1887), The Pathology of Mediastinal Tumours with Special Reference to Diagnosis (1892), An Address on the Surgical Treatment of Gastro-Intestinal Cancer in the British Medical Journal 23 April 1892 (1892), On the so-called Parasitic Protozoa of Cancer (1893), The Pathology of Fibroid Degeneration (Fibrous Transformation) of the Heart (1893), A Contribution to the Pathology of the Coronary Arteries of the Heart (1898), Lectures on Clinical Medicine Delivered in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (1900) and Acute Lobar Pneumonia (1901). He died in Glasgow on 14 February 1909 .

From the guide to the Papers of John Lindsay Steven, 1858-1909, medical graduate, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1875-1876, (Glasgow University Archive Services)