Sir Grafton Elliot Smith

Sir Grafton Elliot Smith was a prominent Australian-British anatomist, Egyptologist, and anthropologist who was known for his research on the brains of Egyptian mummies and his controversial theory of cultural diffusion from ancient Egypt. He was also one of the first to use X-rays to study mummies non-destructively. Smith was born on 15 August 1871 in Grafton, New South Wales, Australia. He was the second son of Stephen Sheldrick Smith, a headmaster who had migrated from London in 1860, and his Sydney-born wife Mary Jane Evans. He received his early education from his father at Grafton Public School and later at Darlington Public School and Sydney Boys' High School. He developed an interest in human biology after attending evening classes in physiology by Professor Thomas Anderson Stuart at the University of Sydney. He enrolled in medicine at the same university in 1888 and graduated with a Doctor of Medicine in 1895. He won a gold medal for his thesis on the anatomy and histology of the brains of non-placental mammals, which was a pioneering work on the brains of monotremes and marsupials. With the help of a travelling scholarship, Smith went to England in 1896 and became an advanced student at St John's College, Cambridge. He published a series of papers on neuro-anatomical topics, which led to his election as a fellow of the college in 1899. He also catalogued the human brain collection of the British Museum. In 1900, he was appointed as the first professor of anatomy at the Egyptian Government School of Medicine in Cairo, where he organized a new department and provided most of the anatomy teaching. He also became involved in archaeological and anthropological research after being consulted by the Hearst Egyptological Expedition of the University of California in 1901. He began to study the brains of Egyptian mummies using X-rays and other methods, and became interested in the pathologies and racial characteristics of ancient Egyptians. He also participated in the archaeological survey of Nubia in 1907, where he examined over 20,000 human remains that were threatened by the rising waters of the Aswan Dam. Smith developed a theory of hyperdiffusionism, which claimed that all major cultural innovations originated from ancient Egypt and spread to other regions through migration and contact. He argued that Egypt was the cradle of civilization and that its influence could be traced in various aspects of culture, such as religion, art, language, writing, architecture, agriculture, astronomy, and navigation. He also suggested that some cultural traits came from Asia, such as metallurgy and domestication of animals. He published several books and articles to support his theory, such as The Ancient Egyptians and Their Influence Upon the Civilization of Europe (1911), The Influence of Ancient Egyptian Civilization in the East and in America (1916), The Migration of Symbols (1919), The Diffusion of Culture (1928), and Human History (1930). His theory was widely popular among the public but met with criticism and rejection from most scholars, who considered it unscientific, ethnocentric, and based on insufficient evidence. Smith was also involved in the controversy over the authenticity of the Piltdown Man, a fossil skull that was claimed to be a missing link between apes and humans. Smith was one of the first to examine the skull in 1912 and declared it genuine. He also supported its discoverer Charles Dawson and defended it against skeptics. However, in 1953, it was revealed that the skull was a hoax, made of a human cranium and an orangutan jaw. Smith's role in the hoax is still unclear, but some have suggested that he was either a victim or a co-conspirator. Smith was a prolific and influential scholar who published over 400 papers and books on various topics. He was a fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, and the British Academy. He received several honors and awards, such as the Royal Medal in 1912 and the knighthood in 1934. He also held academic positions at the University of Manchester and the University College London. He married Kathleen Macredie in 1900 and had three sons. He suffered from hypertension and diabetes, which caused him several strokes. He died on 1 January 1937 at Broadstairs, Kent, England. He was buried at St Peter's Churchyard, Broadstairs.