Alexander Haddow
experimental pathologist in cancer research (1907–1976)
Sir Alexander Haddow FRS FRSE (18 January 1907 – 21 January 1976) was a Scottish physician and pathologist at the forefront of cancer research in the 1940s. He served as Director of the Institute of Cancer Research from 1946 to 1969. He was also President of the Universal Union Against Cancer.
His most important discovery was the Haddow Effect, by which a carcinogenic compound can be used to arrest a cancer whose origin is an unrelated carcinogen.
Early life
Haddow was born on 18 January 1907 in Leven, Fife, Scotland to Margaret Docherty, daughter of a coachman, and William Haddow (d.1928) of Newharthill in Glasgow. His father and grandfather were coal-miners. The family moved to Broxburn, West Lothian, where his father ran Green Tree Tavern, a small bar and hotel.
At age 10, Haddow fell ill with scarlet fever and remained frail and introverted. By age of 11, Haddow also suffered from appendicitis. He was much impressed by the family GP, Dr Alexander Scott, who treated him on both occasions and became his role model.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18935970. VIAF identifies the subject as 93559417. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1907, 1976, 1946 and 1969.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alexander Haddow” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.