Astley Cooper

Sir Astley Cooper, Bt
Astley Cooper by Thomas Lawrence
Born	23 August 1768 Brooke in Norfolk
Died	12 February 1841 (1841-02-13) (aged 72) London
Nationality	English
Fields	anatomy
Known for	otology vascular surgery human anatomy
Notable awards	Copley Medal (1801)

Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet FRS (23 August 1768 – 12 February 1841) was an English surgeon and anatomist, who made historical contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology and surgery of hernia.

Cooper was born at Brooke Hall in Brooke, Norfolk on 23 August 1768 and baptised at the parish church on 9 September. His father, Dr Samuel Cooper, was a clergyman of the Church of England; his mother Maria Susanna Bransby was the author of several novels. At the age of sixteen he was sent to London and placed under Henry Cline (1750–1827), surgeon to St Thomas' Hospital. From the first he devoted himself to the study of anatomy, and had the privilege of attending the lectures of John Hunter. In 1789 he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy at St Thomas' Hospital, where in 1791 he became joint lecturer with Cline in anatomy and surgery, and in 1800 he was appointed surgeon to Guy's Hospital on the death of his uncle, William Cooper.

In 1802 he received the Copley Medal for two papers read before the Royal Society of London on the destruction of the tympanic membrane and was elected a Fellow of that society the same year. In 1805 he took an active part in the formation of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, and in 1804 he brought out the first, and in 1807 the second, part of his great work on hernia, which added so largely to his reputation that in 1813 his annual professional income rose to 21,000 pounds sterling. In the same year he was appointed professor of comparative anatomy to the Royal College of Surgeons and was very popular as a lecturer.