Thomas Linacre (1460-1524) was an English humanist scholar and physician. Linacre was more of a scholar than a scientific investigator. He was one of the first Englishmen to study Greek in Italy. The most important service Linacre conferred upon his own profession and science was the foundation by royal charter of the College of Physicians in London, and he was its first president. Linacre's only medical works were his translations. He desired to make the works of Galen accessible to all readers of Latin. His most famous student was Erasmus of Rotterdam, also known as Desiderius Erasmus. He lived to be 64 and died of natural causes.