John Aikin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Aikin
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John Aikin, published in 1823
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| Born | 15 January 1747 Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England
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| Died | 7 December 1822 (aged 75) Stoke Newington, Middlesex, England
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| Occupation | Doctor, writer |
John Aikin (born January 15, 1747 – died December 7, 1822) was an English doctor and surgeon. As he got older, he spent all his time writing biographies and articles for magazines.
Contents
John Aikin's Early Life and Education
John Aikin was born in Kibworth Harcourt, England. His father, also named John Aikin, was a Unitarian minister. John went to school at the Warrington Academy. This was a special school for people who were not part of the main Church of England. His father taught there.
John studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He also learned from Dr. William Hunter, a famous doctor in London.
Becoming a Doctor
After his studies, John Aikin worked as a surgeon. He practiced in places like Chester and Warrington. Later, he traveled to Leiden in Holland. There, he earned his M.D. degree in 1780. In 1784, he started his own medical practice in Great Yarmouth.
A New Path: Writing and Editing
In 1792, John Aikin moved to London. One of his writings had caused some trouble. In London, he worked as a consulting doctor. He lived in Church Street, Stoke Newington.
However, John became more interested in speaking up for people's freedom to believe what they wanted. He started writing a lot very early in his career. He wrote many articles and books.
Famous Books for Young Readers
In 1796, a man named Sir Richard Phillips started The Monthly Magazine. John Aikin became its first editor.
He also worked with his sister, Anna Laetitia Barbauld. Together, they wrote a very popular series of books. These books were called Evenings at Home. There were six volumes published between 1792 and 1795. These books were for families to read together. They were so popular that they were translated into almost every language in Europe.
John Aikin's Published Works
In 1798, John Aikin stopped working as a doctor completely. He focused only on his writing projects. One of his biggest projects was his General Biography. This was a collection of ten volumes about the lives of many different people. He worked on it from 1799 to 1815.
He also wrote other books, such as:
- Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain (1780)
- The Arts of Life... described in a series of letters. For the instruction of young persons (1802)
- The Lives of John Selden, Esq., and Archbishop Usher (1812)
Besides editing The Monthly Magazine, he also edited Dodsley's Annual Register. From 1807 to 1809, Aikin also created a paper called The Athenaeum. This paper is not the same as the more famous magazine The Athenaeum that came out later.
John Aikin's Family
John Aikin had four children. He had three sons and one daughter.
- His oldest son, Arthur Aikin, became a well-known scientist.
- His youngest son, Edmund Aikin, became an architect.
- His second son, Charles Rochemont Aikin, was adopted by John's sister, Anna Laetitia Barbauld. Charles later became the grandfather of the writer Anna Letitia Le Breton.
- His daughter, Lucy Aikin, became a biographer. In 1823, she wrote a book about her father. It was called Memoir of John Aikin, M.D., with a selection of Miscellaneous Pieces, Biographical, Moral and Critical.
