Gilbert Skene


c.1522 - 1599

Academic and medical practitioner. Born at Bandodle (Aberdeenshire), Skene rose to take the Chair of Medicine at King's College, Aberdeen. He wrote A Brief Description of the Pest (1568), said to be the earliest Scottish medical text and the first description of the 'Black Death' in English, recording the outbreak of that disease in Edinburgh. Skene served as doctor to King James VI (1566 - 1625). His younger brother was Sir John Skene of Curriehill (c.1540 - 1617).


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