Famous Scottish People

Sorted alphabetically by surname

A 3 people

John Abercrombie

Pioneer of neuropathology and Scotland's leading 19th-century physician who wrote groundbreaking medical textbooks and s...

Read biography

Thomas Graham Abercrombie

The architect who shaped Paisley's skyline - from the Royal Alexandra Infirmary to Paisley Grammar School, Thomas Graham...

Read biography

Robert Adam

Scotland's most celebrated architect who revolutionised Georgian Britain with his elegant neoclassical style. From Syon ...

Read biography

Back to top

B 3 people

William Balfour Baikie

Orkney-born explorer and physician who proved quinine prevents malaria, founded Lokoja (Nigeria's future capital), and e...

Read biography

Lady Grisell Baillie

Born into turbulent times, Lady Grisell Baillie showed extraordinary courage as a child messenger during religious perse...

Read biography

Alexander Bain

The self-taught Scottish inventor who created the electric clock and the world's first fax machine. From humble crofting...

Read biography

Back to top

C 2 people

Calgacus

Scotland's first freedom fighter who led the Caledonian tribes against Rome at Mons Graupius (AD 83/84), delivering the ...

Read biography

Edward Callander

A Dumfries-born RAF airman who fought with the French Foreign Legion at Narvik, earned the Distinguished Flying Medal fo...

Read biography

Back to top

D 1 person

David Dale

Scottish industrialist and philanthropist who founded New Lanark and pioneered progressive employment practices during t...

Read biography

Back to top

E 1 person

Joan Eardley

Scottish artist Joan Eardley (1921-1963) captured Glasgow's street children and Catterline's wild seascapes with raw emo...

Read biography

Back to top

F 1 person

Sir William Fairbairn

Scottish engineer who pioneered wrought iron construction and designed the revolutionary Britannia Bridge. From humble K...

Read biography

Back to top

G 1 person

Willie Gallacher

Britain's longest-serving Communist MP, Red Clydeside leader, and tireless champion of workers' rights who rose from pov...

Read biography

Back to top

H 1 person

Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig

Field Marshal Douglas Haig commanded British forces during WWI. A deeply controversial figure known as both "Butcher of ...

Read biography

Back to top

I 1 person

Elsie Inglis

Pioneering Scottish surgeon, suffragist, and wartime hero who founded the Scottish Women's Hospitals and became the firs...

Read biography

Back to top

J 1 person

Gordon Jackson

Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor (1923-1990) who starred as the butler in Upstairs, Downstairs and George Cowley in The...

Read biography

Back to top

K 1 person

Christina Kay

The inspirational Edinburgh teacher whose devotion to art, culture, and her pupils inspired Muriel Spark to create Miss ...

Read biography

Back to top

L 1 person

Alexander Gordon Laing

Scottish explorer (1794-1826) who became the first European to reach Timbuktu via the trans-Saharan route from the north...

Read biography

Back to top

M 2 people

John Macadam

Scottish chemist (1827-1865) who became Australia's first medical chemistry lecturer and gave his name to the macadamia ...

Read biography

Saint Machar

The 6th-century Celtic missionary who founded Aberdeen's historic cathedral and brought Christianity to the Picts of nor...

Read biography

Back to top

N 1 person

John Napier

Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms in 1614, revolutionising scientific calculation for over 300 years. Known...

Read biography

Back to top

P 2 people

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi

Edinburgh-born pioneer of British Pop Art whose groundbreaking 1947 collage featured the word "POP!" years before the mo...

Read biography

Sir William Paterson

The visionary Dumfriesshire-born financier who founded the Bank of England, established the Bank of Scotland, and master...

Read biography

Back to top

R 1 person

Dr John Rae

The Orcadian surgeon who discovered the Northwest Passage, mapped vast stretches of Arctic coastline, and pioneered surv...

Read biography

Back to top

S 3 people

Flora Sadler

Flora Sadler (1912-2000) was a pioneering Scottish mathematician and astronomer who rose from humble Aberdeen beginnings...

Read biography

Alex Salmond

Scotland's transformational First Minister (2007-2014) who led the SNP to historic victories and brought the nation to t...

Read biography

Coinneach Odhar (The Brahan Seer)

Scotland's Nostradamus, a Highland prophet whose visions of railways, oil, and Scotland's future have captivated generat...

Read biography

Back to top

T 1 person

Peter Guthrie Tait

Scottish mathematical physicist (1831-1901) who pioneered knot theory, championed quaternions, and collaborated with Lor...

Read biography

Back to top

U 1 person

Andrew Ure

The Glasgow chemist and polymath whose notorious galvanisation experiments on executed criminals inspired Mary Shelley's...

Read biography

Back to top

W 1 person

General George Wade

The Irish-born Field Marshal who transformed the Highlands by building 250 miles of military roads and raising the Black...

Read biography

Back to top

Y 1 person

James Young

The Glasgow-born chemist who founded the world's first commercial oil refinery, pioneered the extraction of paraffin fro...

Read biography

Back to top