Dr Levi Prinski Scott and the Medical Mission in Smyrna: 1881 – 1892

Rosemary Friedel, 2013

The Church of Scotland had started a mission to the Jews in Smyrna in 1856, which was run by Mr Charteris, a Scotsman. The Jews of Smyrna were Spanish Jews who had been driven out of Spain in 1492, and they still spoke their own language, Judaeo-Spanish. Schools for girls and boys were set up as part of the mission. These schools were run by Mr and Mrs Spath, who were German missionaries. The permanent Mission premises were finally built in 1876 in the Armenian quarter of the city, and would have been, according to this website, on the left side of Basmane Rail Station, the very edge of the zone of the Great Fire.

Dr Prinski Scott had trained as a doctor at the Medical school of the University of Edinburgh, and after graduating, he had been offered a position by the Church of Scotland, to go to Smyrna as a medical missionary in January 1881. His wife, formerly Miss Margaret Adamson, accompanied him on his journey by sea out to Smyrna. There, he established a medical mission, and following that, set up a hospital for the Jews, as well as other inhabitants in the Armenian quarter. At first, he lived in a house opposite the mission premises, using the lower part as a dispensary and with beds for five patients.

His medical practice gradually grew, and by January 1883, he had some 3,000 patients. Within a year, he had learnt to speak Judaeo-Spanish. In August 1885, a Miss Christina Campbell, from the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, was appointed nurse, and local staff were also employed. As the Medical Mission grew in size, it needed bigger premises, and a new hospital was to be built. A suitable site was found consisting of a large house, with land attached, located in the Rue de Meles, close to the existing Mission premises. Mr George Perrin, an English builder, was engaged to undertake the extension and alterations to the existing building for the hospital. This was called the Beaconsfield Memorial Hospital, named in memory of the late Lord Beaconsfield, formerly Benjamin Disraeli. The hospital was opened in December 1886.

Dr LP Scott continued to run the hospital until 1892. Four of his children were born in Smyrna, while his second son, Christian, died in infancy. Dr Scott returned to England to set up practice in Edmonton, London. The hospital continued to be run and developed by the Mission, so that starting in 1904, training of local medical personnel was being undertaken. The hospital and Mission buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1922, when the Mission ceased to exist.