Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Sir James Cantlie KBE FRCS KStJ (17 January 1851 – 28 May 1926) was a British physician. He was a pioneer of first aid, which in 1875 was unknown: even the police had no knowledge of basic techniques such as how to stop serious bleeding and applying splints. He was also influential in the study of tropical diseases and in the debates concerning degeneration theory.
Photos that show this Person
c.1896
1910s
1910s
Comments
Sir James CANTLIE in Hong Kong
In 1886 he became Surgeon at Charing Cross. In 1888, he resigned to take up a position in Hong Kong. While in the crown colony, he co-founded the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, which later grew into the University of Hong Kong. One of his first pupils at the college was the future Chinese leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Cantlie's work in Hong Kong included investigations into leprosy and into various tropical diseases; in 1894 he encountered an outbreak of plague.
In 1896, poor health – related to his unstinting work as a researcher and practicing physician – forced Cantlie to return to London. Later that year, Dr. Sun visited him, and was kidnapped by the Imperial Chinese secret service.
Sun was tied up in the Chinese Legation, and might well have been shipped back to China and executed had it not been for Cantlie, who led a media campaign which not only succeeded in releasing Dr. Sun, but made him a hero in Britain.