James Learmonth

Sir James Rögnvald Learmonth KCVO CBE FRSE FRCSE (1895–1967) was a Scottish surgeon who made pioneering advances in nerve surgery.

James Rögnvald Learmonth was born on 23 March 1895 in Gatehouse of Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He first studied at Girthon School where his father, William Learmonth, was headmaster, later moving to Kilmarnock Academy. From there, he went to the University of Glasgow to study medicine, starting in the autumn of 1913. He completed his first year, but further study was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. He served in France on the Western Front as a commissioned officer with the King's Own Scottish Borderers. By the end of the war, he had attained the rank of Captain.

After the war, Learmonth returned to the University of Glasgow and added to the honours he had received in his first year, graduating in 1921. He was considered the "outstanding medical student of his year", being awarded the university's Brunton Medal. He then continued his medical training at Glasgow's Western Infirmary during 1921 and 1922. This was followed by a period of research that led to a Rockefeller Scholarship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, for the year 1924–5.

Following his research work in the USA, he returned to Scotland and resumed his work at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow. He also continued to study and in 1927 he obtained his Masters in Surgery (Ch.M.) and in 1928 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His research work led to him being invited back to the Mayo Clinic for a second time, and he worked there for the next four years.

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