Skip to content
229,067 profiles ranked

Alexander McCall Smith

British writer · United Kingdom · On the map · Writers · Born 1948 · age 78

Sir Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith is a Scottish legal scholar and author of fiction. He was born and brought up in Southern Rhodesia and was formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law and bioethics and served on related British and international committees.

Alexander McCall Smith is read about 295 times a day, in 27 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?
Compare Claim

A life in dates

2023Knight BachelorAward2015Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse PrizeAward2014Fellow of the Royal Society of LiteratureAward2007Commander of the Order of the British EmpireAwardHonorary Doctor of the University of EdinburghAward2005Fellow of the Academy of Medical SciencesAwardHonorary Doctorate from the University of ParmaAward2004Best Crime Novel in Swedish TranslationAwardDagger in the LibraryAward2001Fellow of the Royal Society of EdinburghAward1948Born24 August 1948

People around Alexander

Close ties

Awards

Knight Bachelor2023
Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize2015
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature2014
Commander of the Order of the British Empire2007
Honorary Doctor of the University of Edinburgh2007
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Parma2005
Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences2005
Best Crime Novel in Swedish Translation2004
Dagger in the Library2004
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh2001

About this person

He has since become known as a fiction writer, with sales in English exceeding 40 million by 2010 and translations into 46 languages. He is known as the creator of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. The "McCall" derives from his great-great-grandmother Bethea McCall, who married James Smith at Glencairn, Dumfries-shire, in 1833.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
Living
Dates
Born 1948 · age 78

Where to find them