Matthew Kaufman

Matthew H. Kaufman (29 September 1942 – 11 August 2013) was a British biologist.

He was also Honorary Librarian at the Royal Medical Society in Edinburgh, having been Senior President from 1966 to 1967.

In 1981 Kaufman and Martin Evans at the University of Cambridge in England and Gail R. Martin in America were the first to derive embryonic stem cells (ES cells) from mouse embryos.

He obtained a PhD in 1984 from the University of Edinburgh presenting the thesis 'Investigations into the genetic, morphogenetic and teratogenic factors that influence early mammalian development'.

He published four books on mouse embryology and three books on historical aspects of military surgery.

He was Professor Emeritus at University of Edinburgh having been Professor of Anatomy there from 1985 to 2007.

He taught anatomy and embryology for more than 30 years, initially at the University of Cambridge, when he was a Fellow of King's College, and more recently (from 1985 to 1997) in Edinburgh.

Born in London into an Orthodox Jewish family, during his early years at the University of Edinburgh, he re-instituted a course for an intercalated degree (an honours science degree taken within a medical degree course) in anatomy, absent for many years in this subject.

With this he brought a new life of exploration and research within the department of anatomy.

in 2008.

He was a leading authority on mouse development.

He died after a long illness at an Edinburgh nursing home in 2013.

All of these books are available from the Shop of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh:

He also published a book on Medical Teaching in Edinburgh during the 18th and 19th centuries, a book on the History of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society and biographies of Dr. John Barclay and Mr. Robert Liston.

He also published about 240 papers on a wide range of embryological and medical historical topics.

He was awarded the F.R.S. Edin.