{{short description|Scottish academic}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

thumb|Prof David Laird Adams thumb|The grave of David Laird Adams, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh '''David Laird Adams''' (1837–1892) was a Scottish academic who was professor of Hebrew and oriental languages at the University of Edinburgh.

==Life==

He was born at Woodside in Blairgowrie, Perthshire on 18 February 1837.<ref name = fasti>''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; p. 387</ref>

Adams studied arts and divinity at the University of Edinburgh, receiving a prize for Biblical criticism.<ref>Edinburgh University Calendar 1869-70</ref>

In 1870 he was living in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, and is thought to have been teaching classics at Dollar Academy.

He was ordained as a Church of Scotland minister at Monimail, Fife in 1875.<ref>''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott</ref>

In 1880 he replaced Prof David Liston as professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages at the University of Edinburgh. Adams introduced Syriac and Arabic to the syllabus. He was replaced by Prof John Dobie.<ref>Disruption to Diversity: David W Wright</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hebrew - Our History|url=http://ourhistory.is.ed.ac.uk/index.php/Hebrew|access-date=2021-07-20|website=ourhistory.is.ed.ac.uk}}</ref>

He died at Primrose Villa, Victoria Park, in Trinity, Edinburgh, on 2 August 1892.<ref name = scott>''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; p. 385</ref><ref>Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1891-2</ref> He is buried in the south-east section of Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh.

==Family==

He was married to Sarah Emma Child Sneezum (1842–1899). They had several children: William David Adams (d. 1927); Charles Walter Adams; Edward Francis Adams; Herbert Frederick Wilfred Adams; Euphemia Laird Adams (1870-1916); and Louisa Emma Adams. Louisa married George Washington Browne in 1905.<ref name = scott/>

==Artistic recognition==

A sketch of Prof Adams by William Brassey Hole is held by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Professor David Laird Adams, 1837 - after 1884. Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at Edinburgh University|url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/91893/professor-david-laird-adams-1837-after-1884-professor-hebrew-and-oriental-languages-edinburgh|access-date=2021-07-20|website=National Galleries of Scotland|language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, David Laird}} Category:1837 births Category:1892 deaths Category:People from Blairgowrie and Rattray Category:19th-century Scottish clergy Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh