George Ballingall

Sir George Ballingall (2 May 1780 – 4 December 1855) was a Scottish medical doctor and surgeon. He was regius professor of military surgery at the University of Edinburgh.

Ballingall was son of the Reverend Robert Ballingall, minister of Forglen, Banffshire, where he was born. He studied at the University of St Andrews, going on to the University of Edinburgh where he passed his MD in 1803.^[1] While at the university, he was an assistant to John Barclay, lecturer on anatomy.

He was appointed assistant-surgeon of the 2nd battalion 1st Royals in 1806, with which he served some years in India; in November 1815 he became surgeon of the 33rd foot, and retired on half-pay in 1818.

In 1823 he was chosen, in preference to David Maclagan,^[2] as lecturer on Military Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, which then, and for some years afterwards, was the only place in the United Kingdom where special instruction was given in a department of surgical science, the importance of which had too plainly been demonstrated during the long war just ended. In 1821 he was elected to the Aesculapian Club.^[3] In 1821 Ballingall was also elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as president in 1824 and 1830.^[4]

In 1825 Ballingall succeeded to the Chair of military surgery, the duties of which he discharged with untiring zeal for 30 years until his death.

He was knighted in 1830 on the occasion of the accession of King William IV.

En 1832-3 su dirección se registra como 13 Heriot Row en Edimburgo. ^{[ 5 ]}

En 1836 fue elegido presidente del Real Colegio de Cirujanos de Edimburgo.

En 1840 vivía en el número 13 de Heriot Row, en la Segunda Ciudad Nueva de Edimburgo . ^{[ 6 ]}

Murió en su finca de Blairgowrie el 4 de diciembre de 1855. ^{[ 7 ]}

Ballingall, quien fue miembro de la Royal Society of Edinburgh y miembro correspondiente del Instituto Francés , fue autor de varias obras profesionales, siendo las más importantes:

• Observaciones sobre las enfermedades de las tropas europeas en la India.
• Observaciones sobre el emplazamiento y la construcción de hospitales
• Esquemas de cirugía militar

La última edición, que aún se considera una obra instructiva, tuvo cinco ediciones; la quinta apareció en la época de la guerra de Rusia, poco antes de la muerte de Ballingall.

 Este artículo incorpora texto de una publicación que ahora es de dominio público : " Ballingall, George ". Diccionario de Biografía Nacional . Londres: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.