LEARMONTH-LERMONTOV. A HYISTORY OF THE NAME AND FAMILIES

example, the general surgeon, Dr. Sterling Bunnell,
established the field of hand surgery.
Today, each surgeon completing a hand surgery
fellowship can trace his or her lineage, through the immediate
program director, to the first group of hand surgeons trained
by Sterling Bunnell. While we are unaware of such a figure
assuming paternity in the field of peripheral nerve surgery, the
contributions in basic science and clinical practice that
constituted the life of James Learmonth suggest that he may
be the first surgeon to devote himself significantly to the
peripheral nerve.
James Rognväld Learmonth was born on March 23,
1895, at Gatehouse-of Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, the
eldest son of William Learmonth and Kathleen Macosquin
Craig. His father, a native of Edinburgh, was the head master
of the parish school of Girthon. His mother came from
Coleraine, Northern Ireland. His middle name, with its
Scandinavian spelling, was used by his family and friends for
many years. He attended the Kilmarnock Academy from 1909
through1912, and began his medical studies at the University
of Glasgow in 1913, only to have them interrupted for duty in
World War I.
He served in the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, with
combat duty in France. Thereafter, he was officer in charge of
the Anti-Gas School, Scottish Command. He returned to
complete his medical education in Glasgow, receiving the
MB, Ch. B. degree, and the Burton Memorial Prize as the
most distinguished graduate in medicine in 1921. He stayed on
to be resident physician and surgeon at the Western Infirmary
in Glasgow, from 1921 through 1923, culminating in a final
year from 1923 to 1924 as assistant to Sir Archibald Young,
Professor of Surgery in the Dispensary at Glasgow University.
In 1924 he received a fellowship from the Rockefeller
Foundation, as well as one from the Medical Research
Council. He used these fellowships to study neurological
surgery under the direction of Dr. Alfred W. Adson at the
Mayo Clinic. While there, he met Charlotte N. Bundy, and
they were married on June 25, 1925. In the summer of 1925,
he returned to Scotland to obtain a master’s degree, Ch. M.,
- 241 -
which he received with high commendation in 1927. His
thesis was on the pathology of spinal tumors.
In 1928, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College
of Surgeons, Edinburgh (FRCSE).
In 1928, Dr. William J. Mayo invited Learmonth to
join his staff. Learmonth took the post as Associate Professor
of Neurologic Surgery at the University of Minnesota, where
he served through 1932. This was a productive time in which
he did research on the role of the sympathetic nervous system
in peripheral vascular disease and pelvic dysfunction,
including the innervations of the bladder. He published about
24 papers during this time. In 1932, at the age of 37,
Learmonth returned to Scotland to become Regius Professor
of Surgery at the University of Aberdeen. He was also the
consulting neurologic surgeon at the Royal Hospital for Sick
Children and the consulting surgeon at the Municipal Hospital.
In 1939, he moved to Edinburgh, where he was
Professor of Systematic Surgery at the University of
Edinburgh. During World War II, Learmonth organized the
Gogaburn Hospital for the treatment of peripheral nerve and
vascular injuries. After the war, he organized separate units in
Edinburgh for vascular, pediatric, plastic, and urologic
surgery. For this wartime work, he was made a Commander of
the British Empire (C.B.E.).
In 1946, he was appointed to the Regius Chair of
Clinical Surgery and in 1948; he became the President of the
Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.
Learmonth was called to the service of King George VI
at Buckingham Palace; the patient was suffering with ischemia
of his right leg. Learmonth performed a lumbar
sympathectomy on March 12, 1949. The King lived three
more years, ultimately succumbing to carcinoma of the lung.
Thereafter, Learmonth was knighted (K.C.V.O.) and
was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
In 1962, he was made Extra Surgeon to Queen
Elizabeth II in Scotland. Other awards included an Hon. FACS
in 1949, an Hon. LLD, Glasgow in 1949, the Lister Medal for
- 242 -