Leonard Findlay (5 February 1878 – 14 June 1947) was a Scottish paediatrician and academic physician. He was the first Leonard Gow Lecturer on the Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood and the first person to hold the Samson Gemmell Chair of Child Health at the University of Glasgow.
Life
Findlay was born in Glasgow, the son of Dr William Findlay, a physician and essayist who wrote under the pen name George Umber, and Margaret Findlay (née Carruthers). He was educated at Allan Glen's School and the University of Glasgow, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1900 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1904, both with commendations. He earned a Doctor of Science (DSc) in 1912. He married Gertrude Binning in 1905, and the couple had two daughters.
Career
Findlay's first post was at the outpatient department of the Western Infirmary in Glasgow, after which he moved to the Department of Pathology under Sir Robert Muir. He later became an assistant to Samson Gemmell, during which time he developed an interest in rickets in children, leading him to pursue paediatrics. He undertook postgraduate study in Germany with Heinrich Finkelstein in Berlin.
Returning to Glasgow in 1902, Findlay worked at the outpatient department of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow. In 1914, he was appointed a Visiting Physician at the hospital's new site at Yorkhill. During World War I, the hospital was requisitioned by the military, and Findlay was assigned the rank of captain, treating military medical cases. In 1918, he was posted to France for military duty.
In 1919, Findlay was appointed Director of Child Welfare for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva. Later that year, he returned to Glasgow to become the Leonard Gow Lecturer in Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood, updating the University of Glasgow Medical School curriculum to include paediatrics. In 1924, he became the first Samson Gemmell Chair of Child Health.
Findlay resigned from Glasgow University in 1930 and settled in London, where he opened a clinic on Wimpole Street in Marylebone and was appointed a physician at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. During World War II, he worked at the Children's Department of the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford.
Research
In the early 20th century, Findlay collaborated with Professor of Physiology Noel Paton on the study of rickets. Through experiments on puppies, they concluded that the underlying cause of rickets was a lack of sunlight, exercise, and fresh air—a view contrary to the prevailing theory that the disease was caused by a toxin. They argued that sufficient sunlight, exercise, and fresh air could halt the symptoms of rickets, particularly in overcrowded industrial cities like Glasgow.
Findlay also collaborated with Paton on the study of tetany, during which they isolated a guanidine compound.
Death
Leonard Findlay died on 14 June 1947 at the age of 69.
