Anatomist, Anthropologist, and Egyptologist are some words used to describe Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, a well achieved man who lived a life full of accomplishment. He was born in Grafton, New South Whales in Australia on August 15, 1871, the son of Stephen Sheldrick Smith, a schoolteacher who had migrated from England to Australia, and his wife Mary Jane Evens. In his early years of schooling, Grafton Elliot took a special interest in physics and medicine. By the age of ten, he became highly interested in the brain after he dissected a shark. Smith began his studies at the University of Sydney with a degree in Medicine in 1892.
In 1895, he was awarded an M.D. and a gold medal for a thesis on the anatomy and histology of the cerebrum of the non-placental mammal. Smith received a traveling scholarship from the University of Sydney in 1896 which enabled him to do further anatomical research for his Ph.D. in England at the Cambridge University . While in Cambridge, he was awarded a research scholarship by the British Medical Association in 1898. In 1899, he was elected a Fellow of St. John's College at Cambridge. During this period of his life, he was invited by Charles Stewart (1840-1907) to prepare a Catalog of brains of Reptilia and Mummalis in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons; the article was completed and published in 1902.
Smith married Kathleen Macredie in 1900 who bore him three sons over the years. Also in 1900, Smith was appointed First Occupant of the Chair of Anatomy and the Professor of Anatomy at the Governmental School of Medicine in Cario. While occupying this position until 1909, he became interested in preserved brains that were recovered from an archaeological site at El Amrah and conducted research on the remains recovered. In 1907, Smith was appointed Anatomical Advisor of the Archaeological Survey of Nubia and was elected to be part of the fellowship of the Royal Society and later earned a Royal Medal in 1912. His research on this project involved the examinations and descriptions of thousands of skeletons excavated before the Aswan Dam was raised. Smith worked with Fredrick Wood Jones (1879-1954) on this project. The analysis of this project done by Smith and Wood revealed many interesting diseases.
Some diseases diagnosed in the mummified remains include appendicular adhesions, gout, scrotal hernia, leprosy, carcinoma, smallpox, mustoid infection and tuberculosis. In 1909, Smith resigned his position at Cario and resumed the position as Chair of Anatomy at the Manchester University until 1919. While at Manchester University, he continued to work on both neurology and the Nubian remains. He also developed his theory of the diffusion of culture, which explains the similarities in culture all over the world by diffusion from pharaonic Egypt. Anthropologists have never generally accepted his theory. His books The Migration of Early Cultures (1915) and The Ancient Egyptians and the Origins of Civilization (1923) summarize his elaborate theory of cultural diffusion. In 1919, Smith resigned his position at Manchester University and proceeded the position at the University College, London were he was also appointed Professor of Anatomy. He occupied these two positions until his death in 1937.
While in London, Smith emphasized the importance of studying human biology with its psychological and cultural aspects and also the history of medicine. Smith also produced anatomical investigations of old skeletons and mummies, particularly when the remains were soft, including brains. His research work in this area led to "The Catalogue of the Royal Mummies in the Cario museum," which was published in 1912. He also contributed to primate evolution. He argued that primate evolution could be characterized by increasing neurological development in those areas associated with sight, touch, and hearing. Sir Grafton Elliot Smith was knighted in 1934. Smith died in London, England on January 1, 1937.
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Spencer, Frank. History of Physical Anthropology. New York, NY: Garland Publishing, 1997.
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Written by Kimberly Hoffstatter