Alexander Russell (naturalist)

Alexander Russell (c. 1715 – 1768) was a Scottish physician and naturalist.

Russell was born in Edinburgh in 1715, the son of lawyer John Russell. He was the half-brother of Patrick Russell He was educated at Edinburgh University and, having obtained an M.D., he went to London in about 1734.

Shortly after he sailed to Aleppo in 1740, he was appointed physician to the English factory there. Russell became the chief medical practitioner in Aleppo, having gained the confidence of the local Pasha. In 1754 he returned to England and two years later he published his Natural History of Aleppo, with a diary of the progress of the plague in 1742-44.He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1756.

In 1759 he was elected to fill a vacancy at St Thomas' Hospital in London. He remained in that role until his death on 25 November 1768.

His written works include:

...
Wikipedia