Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), US physiologist and poet. Holmes trained as a medic, and spent his working life as a professor of physiology at Cambridge University, England, and Harvard University, USA. He wrote poetry while at these posts. His most famous works include Old Ironsides and The Last Leaf. He also wrote prose, including The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, and novels, including The Guardian Angel (1868).