   lieutenant colonel john mccrae, md (november 30, 1872 â january 28, 1918) was a canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during world war i, and a surgeon during the second battle of ypres, in belgium. he is best known for writing the famous war memorial poem "in flanders fields". mccrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war. ==biography== mccrae was born in mccrae house in guelph, ontario to lieutenant-colonel david mccrae and janet simpson eckford; he was the grandson of scottish immigrants. his brother, dr. thomas mccrae, became professor of medicine at johns hopkins medical school in baltimore and close associate of sir william osler. he attended the guelph collegiate vocational institute. he was eventually promoted to captain and commanded the company. he took a year off his studies at the university due to recurring problems with asthma. thumb|left|john mccrae in 1912 among his papers in the john mccrae house in guelph is a letter he wrote on july 18, 1893 to laura kains while he trained as an artilleryman at the royal military college of canada in kingston, ontario. "i have a manservant .. quite a nobby place it is, in fact .. my windows look right out across the bay, and are just near the waterâs edge; there is a good deal of shipping at present in the port; and the river looks very pretty." he was a resident master in english and mathematics in 1894 at the ontario agricultural college in guelph.peddie he returned to the university of toronto and completed his b.a. mccrae returned again to study medicine on a scholarship. while attending the university he joined the zeta psi fraternity (theta xi chapter; class of 1894) and published his first poems. while in medical school, he tutored other students to help pay his tuition. two of his students were among the first woman doctors in ontario. he graduated in 1898, and was first a resident house-officer at toronto general hospital, and then in 1899, at johns hopkins hospital in baltimore, maryland.a cyclo
1872_births 1918_deaths Canadian_Presbyterians Canadian_World_War_I_poets Canadian_military_personnel_killed_in_World_War_I Canadian_military_personnel_of_World_War_I Canadian_people_of_Scottish_descent Canadian_physicians Canadian_poets Deaths_from_pneumonia Members_of_the_Orange_Order People_from_Guelph Persons_of_National_Historic_Significance_(Canada) The_Queen\'s_Own_Rifles_of_Canada University_of_Toronto_alumni University_of_Vermont_faculty