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{{Short description|Scottish medical missionary (1880–1974)}}
{{Use Scottish English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

'''Ernest Muir''' {{smaller| [[F.R.C.S.|FRCS]], [[C.I.E.|CIE]], [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]]}} (17 June 1880 – 1 November 1974) was a Scottish [[medical missionary]] and educator in [[Raj India|British-controlled India]] and [[Colonial Nigeria|Nigeria]] most noted for his work with [[Hansen's disease]] (leprosy).

==Life==
Ernest Muir was born in [[Banffshire]], Scotland on 17 June 1880.{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}} He studied at [[Watson's College]] and the [[University of Edinburgh Medical School|University Medical School]] in [[Edinburgh]].{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}} In 1903, he began work as a [[medical missionary]] for the [[Edinburgh Medical Missionary Association]] in [[Tiberias]]. Tiberias was then part of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Acre Sanjak]],{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}} and later part of [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tiberias summary |url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Tiberias |website=Britannica |access-date=27 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

Muir returned to Scotland to complete the clinical aspects of his [[medical doctorate]] and then left for [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] in [[Raj India|British-controlled India]] in 1908, where he worked on [[tropical disease]]s, completing his degree with a thesis on [[visceral leishmaniasis]] ("kala-azar") in 1910.{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}} He completed the requirements for joining the [[Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons]] while on leave in Scotland in 1914.{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}}

[[File:Leper, M.P., India, 1960 (16356142654).jpg | thumb | right | Man with Hansen's disease (leprosy), India]]
In 1920, [[Leonard Rogers]] invited him to come to [[Calcutta]] (now Kolkata) to study [[Hansen's disease]] at its [[Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine|School of Tropical Medicine]],{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}} beginning with an annual [[Grant (money)|grant]] of [[rupee|Rs]]{{nbsp}}20,000.{{sfnp|SMHF|2022}} Muir advocated for the use of the traditional<ref name="Norton">{{cite journal |last1=Norton |first1=Scott A. |title=Useful plants of dermatology. I. Hydnocarpus and chaulmoogra |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |date=October 1994 |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=683–686 |doi=10.1016/s0190-9622(08)81744-6 |pmid=8089304 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/sdfe/pdf/download/eid/1-s2.0-S0190962208817446/first-page-pdf |access-date=27 June 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Ayurvedic]] treatment{{sfnp|Parascandola|2003|p=48}} of hydnocarpus oil from the [[chaulmoogra tree]]{{sfnp|Macpherson|2021}}<ref name="Discussion"/> and [[counterirritant]]s{{sfnp|Time|1936}} to treat Hansen's disease.<ref name="Discussion">{{cite journal |title=Discussion on the Treatment of Leprosy |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine |date=April 1927 |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=987–1025|quote=With regard to the special drugs used, we have found, after much testing of various vaccines and other remedies which have been recommended, that chaulmoogra and hydnocarpus oils and their derivatives stand in the first place. (Muir, p. 998) |doi=10.1177/003591572702000662 |pmid=19985796 |pmc=2100877 |s2cid=37879698 |language=en |issn=0035-9157|doi-access=free }}</ref> He wrote numerous papers and books on its prevalence, study, and treatment.{{sfnp|SMHF|2022}} He worked closely with [[Isabel Kerr]],<ref name="Anderson">{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Gerald H. |title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions |date=1999 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-4680-8 |page=359 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA359 |access-date=27 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> who set up "the outstanding centre in South India for the treatment of leprosy" at [[Dichpalle|Dichpali]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Obituary |journal=The British Medical Journal |date=31 December 1932 |volume=2 |issue=3756 |pages=1217–1218 |pmid=20777274 |pmc=2522178 }}</ref> He trained colonial doctors including [[Robert Greenhill Cochrane]], who went to India in 1924.{{sfnp|Greenwood|2008|p=196}}

Muir was closely involved with the [[British Empire Leprosy Relief Association]] (now [[LEPRA]]) after its founding in 1924, serving as its [[secretary (title)|secretary]].{{sfnp|SMHF|2022}}
He began travelling to speak on Hansen's disease in 1925, visiting [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|Mainland China]], [[Imperial Japan|Japan]], [[Canada]], and the [[United States]].{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}}

Muir served as professor of tropical diseases at the [[Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine]] (CSTM) from 1933{{ndash}}1935.{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=458}}
Muir finally left India in 1936{{sfnp|Randall|2018|p=48}} and the same year was sponsored by the [[Leonard Wood Memorial]] to tour the [[United States]], speaking before the [[American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene|American Society of Tropical Medicine]] in [[Baltimore]] and visiting the [[Carville Leprosarium]] in [[Louisiana]] and the leprology researchers at [[George Washington University|George Washington]], [[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[University of Rochester|Rochester]], [[Vanderbilt University|Vanderbilt]], and [[Western Reserve University|Western Reserve]] universities.{{sfnp|Time|1936}} In 1938, he served as secretary at the congress of the International Leprosy Association in [[Cairo]].{{sfnp|Randall|2018|p=48}}

In 1939,{{sfnp|SMHF|2022}} he worked at the Uzuakoli [[Methodist College Uzuakoli|college]] and [[leper colony]] in [[Colonial Nigeria|Nigeria]] in what is today [[Abia State]]. He also served for a time as superintendent of the [[Chacachacare Leprosarium]] on [[British Trinidad|Trinidad]] in the [[Caribbean Islands|Caribbean]].{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=458}}
In 1948 Muir served as secretary of the ILA congress in [[Havana]].{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=458}}

Muir died on 1 November 1974{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=457}} at his home in London.

==Awards and honors==
Muir received an honorary [[legum doctor|LL.D.]] from [[University of Hong Kong|Hong Kong University]]{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=458}} in 1925.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ernest MUIR – Biography – The Honorary Graduates – HKU Honorary Graduates |url=https://www4.hku.hk/hongrads/graduates/ernest-muir |website=Hong Kong University |access-date=26 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

Muir received a [[Kaisar-i-Hind Medal|Kaisar-i-Hind medal]]{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=458}} for Public Service in India as of 3 June 1921<ref>{{cite news |title=CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD |page=4535 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32346/supplement/4535/data.pdf |access-date=26 June 2022 |work=SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE |date=4 June 1921}}</ref> and a bar to the medal at the [[1932 Birthday Honours|1932 Birthday Honors]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=BMJ |date=11 June 1932 |volume=1 |issue=3727 |pages=1097–1098 |doi=10.1136/bmj.1.3727.1097 |url=https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.3727.1097 |access-date=26 June 2022 |language=en |issn=0959-8138|title=London and Counties Medical Protection Society |pmid=20776899 |pmc=2520532 |s2cid=219998895 }}</ref>

He was named a [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire|companion]] of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]] at the [[1937 Coronation Honours|1937 Coronation Honors]].<ref>{{cite news |title=CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD|pages=3082–3083 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34396/supplement/3083/data.pdf |access-date=26 June 2022 |work=SUPPLEMENT to THE LONDON GAZETTE |date=11 May 1937}}</ref>

Muir was named a [[Companion of the Order of St Michael & St George|companion]] of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] at the [[1948 New Year Honours|1948 New Year Honors]].{{sfnp|Browne|1974|p=458}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Medical New Year Honours |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/1/4540/66 |access-date=26 June 2022 |work=British Medical Journal |date=10 January 1948 |volume=1 |issue=4540 |pages=65–66 |language=en |doi=10.1136/bmj.1.4540.66}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Isabel Kerr]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|3}}

===Bibliography===
* {{citation |last= |first= |contribution=Dr Ernest Muir |contribution-url=https://leprosyhistory.org/database/person6 |title=History of Leprosy: Database |publisher=Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation |location=Tokyo |date=2022 |ref=CITEREFSMHF2022 }}.
* {{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,757159,00.html |contribution=Medicine: Muir on Leprosy |date=14 December 1936 |title=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |location=New York City |publisher=Time Inc. |ref=CITEREFTime1936 }}.
* {{citation |last=Browne |first=Stanley George |url=http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v42n4a14.pdf |title=Ernest Muir, C.M.G., C.I.E., M.D. (Edin.), F.R.C.S., LL.D. 1880{{ndash}}1974 |date=1974 |pages=457–458 |work=International Journal of Leprosy |publisher=International Leprosy Association |location=[[Bauru]] |volume=42 |issue=4 |pmid=4617724 }}.
* {{citation |last=Browne |first=Stanley George |title=E. Muir |journal=British Medical Journal |date=16 November 1974 |page=413 |volume=4 |issue=5941 |pmid=4609559 |location=London |publisher=British Medical Association |pmc=1612434 |ref={{harvp|NAN}} }}.
* {{citation |last=Greenwood |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxdREAAAQBAJ |title=Antimicrobial Drugs |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-156007-1 }}.
* {{citation |last=Macpherson |first=Hamish |contribution-url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19000081.scots-doctor-pioneered-treatment-leprosy-india/ |contribution=Dr Isabel Kerr |date=11 January 2021 |title=The National |location=High Wycombe |publisher=Newsquest Media Group }}.
* {{citation |last=Parascandola |first=John |title=Chaulmoogra Oil and the Treatment of Leprosy |journal=Pharmacy in History |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=[[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] |url=https://lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov/LHC-publications/PDF/pub2003048.pdf |volume=45 |issue=2 |date=2003 |pages=47–57 |pmid=12894769 }}.
* {{citation |last=Randall |first=Ian M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBhSDwAAQBAJ |title=A Christian Peace Experiment: The Bruderhof Community in Britain, 1933{{ndash}}1942 |location=[[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]] |publisher=Cascade Books |date=2018 |isbn=9781532639982 }}.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muir, Ernest}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Banffshire]]
[[Category:Scottish missionaries]]
[[Category:British leprologists]]
[[Category:Scottish educators]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish medical doctors]]
[[Category:British medical missionaries]]

Ernest Muir (doctor) - Revision history

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