Administrative / Biographical History

Davison was an important figure in the field of medical illustration. She was trained at Manchester School of Art and entered the field of medical illustration through work done on Egyptology at the Manchester Museum, which led to a chance encounter with Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, the Professor of Anatomy at the University of Manchester. She later worked closely with the renowned neurosurgeon, Sir Geoffrey Jefferson. Davison was well known for her neurological, orthopaedic and haematological paintings. She was a pioneer in the field, and in 1939 was appointed Medical Artist by the University of Manchester and after the war took up her post at MRI, training a new generation of medical artists. Davison was instrumental in founding the Medical Artists Association of Great Britain in 1949.

Related Material

See also MMC/1/DavisonD . The Library also has custody of collections of Davison's medical illiustrations (VFA/7) and sketches (DDS).