Museums



Joseph, Lord Lister (1827-1912)

Joseph Lister came to Edinburgh in 1853 after graduating in medicine in London. He worked closely with James Syme, the celebrated Professor of Surgery in Edinburgh, becoming his assistant and later marrying his daughter. In 1866 Lister introduced carbolic acid as an antiseptic, to kill airborne bacteria and to prevent their transmission into wounds from the air of the operating theatre. He himself was appointed Professor of Surgery in 1869 and continued to develop improved methods of antisepsis that revolutionised surgical practice.

back to Surgeons' Hall Museum, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh