James Wylie was a native of Kincardine-on-Forth and completed medical training at Edinburgh University in 1789. He emigrated to Russia in 1790 where he joined the Eletsky Regiment as a surgeon. He travelled 150,000 miles in his military medical capacity during several campaigns including the Napoleonic wars. He became the favourite of three successive Czars and made an enormous contribution to developing medical services, both military and civil being not only a notable physician and surgeon but a most effective administrator.
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