Professor George Archibald Grant Mitchell (1906–1993): his work with penicillin during World War II

Abstract

George Archibald Grant Mitchell, OBE, TD, MB, ChB, ChM, MSc, DSc, FRCS (1906–1993) was a professor of anatomy at the University of Manchester from 1946 to 1973. He is mainly remembered for his research in neuroanatomy, especially of the autonomic nervous system. He studied medicine at the Aberdeen University, and after qualifying in 1929 he held posts in surgery and anatomy and worked as a surgeon in the Highlands. In 1939, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was based in Egypt and the Middle East, where he carried out trials of sulphonamides and penicillin on wounded soldiers; in 1943, he returned to England as Adviser in Penicillin Therapy for 21 Army Group, preparing for the invasion of Europe.

Acta Anatomica: A portrait of an anatomy department, Christmas 1951

“…After the War, the University of Manchester vice chancellor JSB Stopford (1888-1961) appointed him to the chair of anatomy in 1946. 16 Mitchell's hand is on the shoulder of Dr Stott, dressed as Aladdin wearing an oriental hat, he looks worried, he had failed his FRCS examination, and he is throwing away papers: 'how to run the MRI' and 'how to get your students through vivas easily'. Dr Beswick remembered that Mitchell wanted him to stay in the department, but Stott decided to abandon his surgical ambitions and joined a general practice in Cannock.…”