Jonathan Campbell Meakins was a celebrated physician and medical author who was the inaugural President of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada a Canadian physician and medical author.
Meakins was born on 16 May 1882 in Hamilton, Ontario. He received his medical degree from the University of Sydney in 1904. In 1909 he joined McGill University's Faculty of Medicine as a Demonstrator in Clinical Medicine. While at McGill University, he held a number of positions in pathology and experimental medicine.
In 1919, Meakins took up the post as Professor of Therapeutics at the University of Edinburgh (where he was one of the first medical researchers to administer and study the effects of insulin) and three years later he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
In 1924 he moved back to Canada as Professor of Medicine at McGill University where he remained until his retirement in 1947. He was Dean of the University's Faculty of Medicine from 1941-1948.
In June 1929 a special Act of Parliament established The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to oversee medical education in the country, with Meakins elected as its first President.
Having served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War I, Meakins served as Deputy Director of Medical Services with the rank of brigadier during the Second World War II, where his expertise from studying posttraumatic stress disorder and gas poisoning from the first conflict proved invaluable. For this service he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
A prolific medical writer, he published over 160 works.
Jonathan Campbell Meakins died in Montreal on 12 October 1959.
