William Stephen Atkinson (September 1820 – 15 January 1876, Rome) was a British lepidopterist who worked for much of his life in India.
[2] He then studied to become a civil engineer, but was offered the position of principal at Martiniere College and went to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in November 1854.
He became interested in the Lepidoptera of Bengal and started breeding moths and communicated with Henry Tibbats Stainton.
He made trips to Sikkim with Dr Thomas Anderson of the Calcutta Botanic Garden.
His collection was purchased on his death by William Chapman Hewitson and deposited with the Natural History Museum in London.