Born in Edinburgh, Archibald Pitcairne was the son of Alexander Pitcairne. He was educated in Dalkeith and at the University of Edinburgh, graduating MA in 1671. He studied botany, pharmacy, and materia medica, and after further study in Paris graduated MD at the University of Reims in 1680. In 1685 he was appointed, along with Sir Robert Sibbald and Sir James Halket, joint Professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
