Robert William Johnstone
Robert William Johnstone CBE, FRCSEd, FRSE, FRCOG, (11 August 1879– 27 November 1969) was a Scottish obstetrician and gynaecologist. For some 20 years he was Professor of Midwifery and Gynaecology at the University of Edinburgh. He was a founding Fellow and subsequently vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He served as president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1943 to 1945. Early life and education He was born in Newington, Edinburgh in 1879, the son of Rev William Johnstone DD and his wife Janet (née Brocon). His father was Professor of Divinity at the United Presbyterian College in Edinburgh. After schooling at George Watson's College, Edinburgh he entered Faculty of Arts at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying MA in 1900 and, having entered the faculty of Medicine, qualified MBChB with honours three years later. Career After resident posts in Edinburgh he had decided on a career in obstetrics, working initially at the Vienna clinic of Ernst Wertheim, the pioneer of radical hysterectomy. Moving to Prague he spent time researching and studying at the clinics of von Franque and von Jaksche where his research would form the basis of a thesis for which he was