John Moore (1729-1802), Scottish physician and writer, was born at Stirling in 1729, the son of a clergyman. After taking his medical degree at Glasgow, he served with the army in Flanders, then proceeded to London to continue his studies, and eventually to Paris, where he was attached to the household of the British ambassador. His novel Zeluco (1789), a close analysis of the motives of a selfish profligate, produced a great impression at the time, and indirectly, through the poetry of Byron, has left an abiding mark on literature. Byron said that he intended Childe Harold to be "a poetical Zeluco," and the most striking features of the portrait were undoubtedly taken from that character. Moore's other works have a less marked individuality, but his sketches of society and manners in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and England furnish valuable materials for the social historian. In 1792 he accompanied Lord Lauderdale to Paris, and witnessed some of the principal scenes of the Revolution. His Journal during a Residence in France (1793) is the careful record of an eye-witness, and is frequently referred to by Carlyle. He died in London on the 21st of January 1802, leaving five sons, the eldest of whom was General Sir John Moore. James Moore (1763-1834), who wrote Sir John's Life, was also the author of some important medical works, and Sir Graham Moore (1764-1843), saw much active naval service and became an admiral.
John Moore
