Edward L. Holmes (1828-1900) was an American ophthalmologist who founded The University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. A native of Massachusetts, Holmes received instruction from the historian , and learned German from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He summered at Brook Farm, an experimental, utopian, literary community, based on the principles of transcendentalism and shared manual labor. Holmes received undergraduate and medical school training at Harvard, followed by postgraduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then studied ophthalmology and otology in Paris and Vienna.