Robert Edmond Grant

Who was Robert Edmond Grant?

Robert Edmond Grant MD FRCPEd FRS was born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh University as a physician. He became one of the foremost biologists of the early 19th century at Edinburgh and subsequently the first Professor of Comparative Anatomy at University College London. He is noted for his influence on the young Charles Darwin, and his espousal of Geoffroy's ideas on evolution.

Grant held the UCL chair of comparative anatomy for life; he was elected FRS in 1836; he became Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution 1837-8, and in 1847 Dean of the UCL Medical Faculty. In 1853 he became Swiney lecturer in geology to the British Museum.