Further Reading >> NOTABLE EDINBURGH PEOPLE ON WIKIPEDIA
Other Notable people born or lived/living in edinburgh
Medicine, Science and Engineering
Charles Bell, Scottish anatomist, surgeon, physiologist and natural theologian born in Edinburgh
Alexander Graham Bell, telephone pioneer, was born in Edinburgh
Joseph Black, physician, physicist, and chemist
Fergus I. M. Craik, cognitive psychologist, born in Edinburgh, and studied at the University of Edinburgh
Norman Dott, neurosurgeon and President of the Society for British Neurological Surgeons
Peter Higgs, theoretical physicist, emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh
James Hutton, Scottish Geologist, renowned as the "Father of Geology" was born in Edinburgh
James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist
John Napier, mathematician, mainly remembered for the invention of logarithms
James Nasmyth, inventor of the steam hammer
Robert Knox, anatomist, purchaser of bodies from Burke and Hare
James Young Simpson, an obstetrician who conducted the first experimental use of chloroform for anaesthesia
D'Arcy Wentworth Thomson, Zoologist and Mathematician. Author of the influential book "On Growth and Form"
Professor Ian Wilmut, contributor to the Dolly the Sheep project, the world's first cloned mammal
Arts
Robert Adam, architect of Charlotte Square and other notable buildings
William Adam, architect of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and father of Robert Adam
Bay City Rollers, pop group from the 1970s
Ewen Bremner, actor
Rory Bremner, impressionist and comedian
Nicky Campbell, radio and television presenter
Ian Charleson, actor
Sir Sean Connery, actor
Ronnie Corbett, a Scottish comedian and actor, best known as one of The Two Ronnies
Robert Craig, designer of Edinburgh New Town
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in the city's New Town
Al Fairweather, Jazz musician
Bridget Forsyth, actress, best known for playing Thelma in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads
Kirsty Gallacher, television presenter
Isabella Glyn, (1823-1889) well-known Victorian-era actress
Hannah Gordon, actress
Eugene Kelly, Member of The Vaselines
Grant Kirkhope, musician, composer for music in video games, sound Designer
Sir Harry Lauder, vaudeville singer, entertainer, and composer, of great acclaim.
Robert Scott Lauder, artist and portrait painter.
Lucinda Ledgerwood, Apprentice (UK series 4) candidate
John Leslie, television presenter
Frances Leviston, poet
Shirley Manson, lead singer for the band Garbage
Magnus Magnusson, television presenter and author
Frances McKee, Member of The Vaselines.
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter was named after Frances because of Cobain's love of The Vaselines.
William Miller, 19th century engraver and watercolourist
Alexander Nasmyth, landscape and portrait painter
Eduardo Paolozzi, Sculptor and Artist, born in Leith
Gail Porter, television presenter
John Rae, jazz musician and composer
Sir Henry Raeburn, portrait artist
Allan Ramsay (1713-1784), painter
Ian Richardson, actor
David Roberts, 19th century painter and lithographer
Alistair Sim,Scottish character actor
Finley Quaye, singer-songwriter
Ken Stott, film and television actor, born in Edinburgh
Authors
R M Ballantyne, author of The Coral Island and other books for boys
James Boswell, author, biographer of Samuel Johnson
George Mackay Brown, poet and storyteller
John Brown, essayist
Ron Butlin, poet and Edinburgh Makar 2008 onward
Alison Cockburn, poet 1712 - 1794
Henry Thomas, Lord Cockburn author of Memorials of His Time
Stewart Conn, poet and Edinburgh Makar 2002 - 2005
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in the city's New Town
William Dunbar, medieval poet
Adam Ferguson, philosopher and historian
Robert Fergusson, poet
Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE, poet, writer, artist and gardener.
Robert Garioch, poet
Valerie Gillies, poet and Edinburgh Makar 2008 - 2008
Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows
Kathleen Jamie, poet
Sir Ludovic Kennedy, journalist, broadcaster and author
Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, notable academic, novelist, and writer, etc.
Thomas Babington Macaulay, poet and Edinburgh MP
Norman MacCaig, poet
Duncan Ban MacIntyre, Gaelic poet and a constable of Edinburgh City Guard
Magnus Magnusson, television presenter and author
William Topaz McGonagall, renowned as one the worst poets in the English language was born in Edinburgh
Bruce Marshall, author of Father Malachy's Miracle
Brian McCabe, poet
Candia McWilliam, novelist
John Mein, newspaper and almanack publisher; bookseller
Naomi Mitchison, novelist and poet
John Playfair, scientist and professor
Finley Quaye, singer-songwriter
Allan Ramsay (1686 — 1758), poet and father of the painter of the same name
Dilys Rose, poet
Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of books and many children's novels and Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh University
Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus series of crime thrillers, attended the University of Edinburgh
Tessa Ransford, poet and founder of the Scottish Poetry Library
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter author, wrote her first book in Edinburgh coffee-shop, Nicholson's
Sir Walter Scott, (1771-1832), novelist, was born in Edinburgh.
Sidney Goodsir Smith, poet
Muriel Spark, novelist, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, wrote fondly of the city before moving to Samoa
James Thomson, poet
Patrick Fraser Tytler, Scottish historian
Nigel Tranter (1909-2000), historian, writer, lived in Edinburgh
Irvine Welsh, novelist, author of e.g. Trainspotting, is from Edinburgh.
Sports
Alex Arthur, professional super featherweight boxer
Mark Beaumont, holds the Guiness World Record for "Fastest True Circumnavigation of the World by Bicycle"
Ken Buchanan, boxer former world lightweight champion
Craig Gordon, football goalkeeper for Sunderland and Scotland
James Alexander Gordon, football results broadcaster, born in Edinburgh
Gavin Hastings, former Scottish Rugby Captain, born in Edinburgh
Scott Hastings, former Scottish rugby player and rugby commentator, born in Edinburgh
Lord Hawke, cricketer
Johnny Haynes, footballer who spent his retired years in Edinburgh
Chris Hoy, Scottish track cyclist and Olympic Games gold and silver medal winner
Hugh Kelsey, international bridge player and author.
Don Revie, footballer and football manager
Alan MacDonald, international rugby union player.
Steven MacLean, footballer currently with Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Gordon Shedden, BTCC racing car driver, born in Edinburgh
Graeme Souness, football manager
Gordon Strachan, football manager
Mike Heatlie, Gwen Stefani's former personal trainer
David Wilkie, MBE, Olympic games and Commonwealth games champion swimmer
George Farm - former Scotland, Blackpool and Queen of the South F.C. goalkeeper and Scottish Cup winning manager with Dunfermline Athletic.
Garry O'Connor, football striker for Birmingham City F.C
Royalty
Saint Margaret of Scotland, wife of Malcolm Canmore
Mary, Queen of Scots, lived in Holyrood Palace
Miscellaneous
William Burke and William Hare, serial killers; sold the bodies of their victims to the medical college for dissection
Alexander Donaldson (bookseller), publisher
James Donaldson (publisher), publisher; founder of Donaldson's Hospital
George Drummond Lord Provost and major supporter of the New Town, Edinburgh
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Home Secretary and 18th century Tory politician
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig was born in Edinburgh
Sam Houser, President of Rockstar Games and Executive Producer of the Grand Theft Auto franchise since the third game
David Hume, philosopher and historian
John Knox, Protestant Reformer, lived in Edinburgh, and the so-called John Knox's House is preserved in the High Street
John Porteous, captain of the city guard, lynched during the Porteous Riots of 1736
Adam Smith, economist, author of The Wealth of Nations
Archibald Cleghorn (1835–1910) married into royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii
Ronald Speirs, commander of "Dog" and "Easy" companies of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne during World War II, and governor of Spandau Prison in Berlin.
Sir Charles Tupper, one of the Fathers of the Confederation who formed the Dominion of Canada in 1867, and later the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, educated at the University of Edinburgh.
John Witherspoon, only clergyman to sign the American Declaration of Independence, president of Princeton University, educated in Edinburgh.
Elaine Davidson, holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Pierced Woman
Tony Blair, British Prime Minister 1997-2007, was born in Edinburgh in 1953
Charles Umpherston Aitchison, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab
