# David Semple

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{{for|the Scottish lawyer and antiquary|David Semple (antiquarian)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name               = Sir David Semple
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1856|04|06|df=yes}}
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1937|01|07|1856|04|06|df=yes}}
| burial_label       = 
| burial_place       = 
| birth_place        = [Derry](/source/Derry), [Ireland](/source/Ireland)
| death_place        = [Paddington](/source/Paddington), London, England
| burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname           = 
| allegiance         = United Kingdom
| branch             = [Royal Army Medical Corps](/source/Royal_Army_Medical_Corps)
| service_years      = 1883-
| rank               = [Lieutenant-Colonel](/source/Lieutenant-Colonel)
| service_number     = 
| unit               = 
| commands           = 
| battles            = 
| battles_label      = 
| awards             = 
| relations          = 
| other_work         = Bacteriologist
}}
[Lieutenant-Colonel](/source/Lieutenant-Colonel) '''Sir David Semple''' (6 April 1856 – 7 January 1937) was a [British Army](/source/British_Army) officer who founded the [Pasteur Institute](/source/Pasteur_Institute) at [Kasauli](/source/Kasauli) in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The institute later came to be known as the [Central Research Institute (CRI)](/source/Central_Research_Institute_(CRI)).

Semple was born in [Derry](/source/Derry), the son of William Semple of [Castlederg](/source/Castlederg), [County Tyrone](/source/County_Tyrone). He was educated at [Foyle College](/source/Foyle_College) and earned his [MD](/source/M.D.) and [MCh](/source/MCh) degrees at [Queen's University Belfast](/source/Queen's_University_Belfast), followed by his [Public Health](/source/Doctor_of_Public_Health) degree from Cambridge in 1892.<ref name="burkegreatwar">{{cite book |title= [Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood](/source/Burke's_Peerage)|publisher=Burke's Peerage & Gentry |editor= Burke, Sir Bernard |editor-link=Bernard Burke |edition=76th |year= 1914 |page= 2520 |ref=Burke }}</ref>

Semple joined the [Royal Army Medical Corps](/source/Royal_Army_Medical_Corps) as a surgeon on 3 February 1883, and was promoted to [surgeon-major](/source/surgeon-major) on 3 February 1895.<ref>Hart′s Army list, 1903</ref> He was stationed in [Punjab](/source/Punjab_Province_(British_India)) when he was promoted to [lieutenant-colonel](/source/Lieutenant_colonel_(United_Kingdom)) on 3 February 1903.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 27526 |page=1133 |date= 20 February 1903}}</ref>

In 1911, he developed a nerve-tissue based [rabies](/source/rabies) [vaccine](/source/vaccine) from the brains of sheep first made rabid and then killed. The 'Semple' vaccine however is known to have side-effects such as paralysis with high risk of other diseases, being just a crude form of churned brain-tissue. It needs administration around the stomach in a series of very painful injections administered over a period of seven to 14 days, a course that many do not complete. Moreover, it is not reliable and the [World Health Organization](/source/World_Health_Organization) (WHO) has been advocating its total disuse since 1993. (WHO literature )

He was given a knighthood in 1911,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Page 1462 {{!}} Issue 28469, 24 February 1911 {{!}} London ... |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28469/page/1462 |access-date=2025-12-08 |work=The Gazette |language=en-GB}}</ref> and is buried in [City of Westminster Cemetery, Hanwell](/source/City_of_Westminster_Cemetery%2C_Hanwell).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070524111417/http://www.rabies.net/cont_41.semple_vaccine.php/ Chiron Vaccines Rabies Information Site]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051112043637/http://www.westminster.gov.uk/communityandliving/burials/hanwell.cfm Hanwell Cemetery]
* {{cite TIWW |article=Semple, Lieut.-Col. Sir David |page=228 }}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, David}}
Category:1856 births
Category:1937 deaths
Category:British immunologists
Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers
Category:Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal
Category:Knights Bachelor
Category:British people in British India
Category:Medical doctors from British India
{{UK-med-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Semple](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Semple) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Semple?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.