James Atkinson (17 March 1780 – 7 August 1852) was a surgeon, artist and Persian scholar — "a Renaissance man among Anglo-Indians" First arriving in India in 1802, he was later appointed Assistant to the Assay Master at the Calcutta Mint ten years later; and also was editor of the Calcutta Gazette. Closely associated with the English colonial authorities and their community in India, he would meet Lord Minto and Lord Bentick, the latter of whom he had a notorious disagreement with. He was also known for his journals while in Afghanistan in the 1840s.