James Learmonth

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

Early years James Rögnvald Learmonth was born on 23 March 1895 in Gatehouse of Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He then held professorships in surgery at the University of Edinburgh from 1939 until his retirement in 1956.

In 1949, Learmonth performed a lumbar sympathectomy on King George VI to treat the king's vascular disease (thromboangiitis obliterans). For this service, Learmonth was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO), being "knighted in the king's bedroom". and the Aesculapian Club in 1949. He was also awarded the 1951 Lister Medal for his contributions to surgical science. The corresponding Lister Oration, given at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, was delivered on 4 April 1952, and was titled 'After Fifty-Six Years'.

Learmonth was also recognised with honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degrees from the University of Glasgow (1949), The Lancet, and the Glasgow University Gazette. One of the tributes in the British Medical Journal stated that Learmonth "ranks with William Mayo, Harvey Cushing and Geoffrey Jefferson as one of the surgical giants of our time".