John Alexander MacWilliam
| John Alexander MacWilliam FRS |
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| Born |
31 July 1857 Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire, Scotland |
| Died | 13 January 1937 (aged 79) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British/Scottish |
| Fields | Physiology, Cardiology |
| Alma mater |
University of Aberdeen University College, London University of Leipzig |
| Known for | Research and discoveries in field of cardiac function (heart, arteries, blood pressure). |
| Notable awards |
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John Alexander MacWilliam (31 July 1857 – 13 January 1937), a physiologist at the University of Aberdeen in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was a pioneer in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. He spent many years studying ventricular fibrillation, and was the first person to propose that ventricular fibrillation was the most common cause of sudden death - and that fibrillation could be terminated (and life potentially saved) by a series of induction shocks to the heart. He was the first to accurately describe the condition of arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), and he suggested transthoracic pacing to treat transient asystole (cardiac arrest). Although his work was recognised within his lifetime, it was not until many decades later that it laid the foundations for developments in the understanding and treatment of life-threatening heart conditions, such as in the artificial cardiac pacemaker. MacWilliam was appointed Regius Professor of the Institutes of Medicine (later Physiology) at the University of Aberdeen at the age of 29 in 1886, and remained in that post for 41 years until his retirement in 1927.
MacWilliam was born 31 July 1857 at Kiltarlity, near Beauly, Inverness-shire in Scotland, where his father was farmer at Culmill farm. His parents were William McWilliam (1814 - 1888) and his wife Isabella Cumming (1816 - 1887) who had moved around 1850 from the neighbouring parishes of Inveravon (sometimes spelled Inveraven) and Knockando on Speyside to the farm at Culmill. His mother Isabella Cumming was the youngest daughter of John and Helen Cumming, founders of the Cardhu whisky distillery on Speyside.
John Alexander had two siblings. His elder brother, William Lewis McWilliam, was born at Kiltarlity in 1855. He stayed as farmer at Culmill and married Mary Burns. They had no children. William was a respected farmer and an Inverness-shire County Councillor, who was also chairman of the local schools committee and chairman of the Parish Council for over 30 years. He died in 1936, aged 81. His sister, Isabella Helen McWilliam, was born 12.10.1859 and died in infanthood – at the age of just 16 months.
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