José Macpherson y Hemas (1839–1902) was a Spanish amateur geologist, noted as pioneer in the introduction of modern techniques for the studies of rocks in Spain.

[1] Born in 1839 in Cádiz in a family of traders, son to a Scottish father.

[2] He was the younger brother of Guillermo Macpherson [es],[3] a diplomat, archaeologist and translator.

Macpherson met Francisco Giner de los Ríos (the founder of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, ILE) for the first time in 1875,[4] collaborating with and eventually becoming a lecturer of the ILE (1882).

[5] He was also a member of the Sociedad Española de Historia Natural [es] and a founding member of the Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid [es].