Author: Atkinson, James
Biography:
ATKINSON, James (1780-1852: ODNB)
Physician, orientalist. He was born in county Durham and studied medicine at Edinburgh and London before becoming a medical officer on board an East Indiaman. When he was appointed surgeon in the Bengal medical service in 1805, he embarked on an intensive study of Oriental languages. A pioneer in Oriental studies, he translated a range of Persian texts into English verse and prose. Atkinson was also an accomplished portraitist and artist who illustrated his Sketches in Affghanistan [sic] (1842). After long service in India where, among other occupations, he was editor of the Government Gazette and travelled to Kabul as superintending army surgeon, he retired to England in 1847. He died at London. (ODNB 22 Jan. 2018; C.E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography)