Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 13, 2011

Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish Labour Party politician, and the first holder of the office of First Minister of Scotland, from the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 until his death. He was also a Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Scotland for several years. Born at 194 Renfrew Street, Glasgow on 21 August 1937 to mature parents, Dewar was an only child. His father Alisdair was a distinguished consultant dermatologist but suffered from tuberculosis. His mother Mary (née Bennett) suffered from a benign brain tumour when Donald was very young.

He attended the Glasgow Academy before studying at the University of Glasgow, in 1957, where he gained both a MA degree in History in 1961, and a second-class LLB degree in 1964, as well as editing the Glasgow University Guardian. Here, he met his close friend, John Smith (who would later become leader of the Labour Party), Sir Menzies Campbell (who would later become leader of the Liberal Democrats) and Lord Irvine of Lairg (who would serve as Lord Chancellor in the same cabinet as Dewar) through the Dialectic Society. In his time at university he also served as Chair of the Glasgow University Labour Club and President of the Glasgow University Union. In 1962 he was selected as Labour candidate for Aberdeen South.