Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1864–1945)

Scottish zoologist, journalist, and secretary of London Zoo.

Mitchell was born in Dunfermline and graduated from King's College, Aberdeen with an MA 1884. He then went to Christ Church College, Oxford where he gained a first in natural sciences and became a university demonstrator and assistant to the Linacre professor of comparative anatomy. Following two years employment with Oxford County Council, he became a lecturer at London Hospital Medical college 1894. He was the secretary of the Zoological Society of London 1903–35, and it was during this time that the animal houses in Regent's Park were rebuilt and Whipsnade Zoo was opened.

Mitchell's career as a journalist stretched from his time in Oxford until after his retirement to Malaga. He was scientific correspondent for the Times and the biological editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th edition). He was knighted 1929. He was well known for his radical left-wing political views, describing himself as an anarchist.