Francis Douglas Martinson was professor of otorhinolaryngology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He was born on 15 October 1916 in Kumasi, Ghana. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying in 1942. He was a house physician and resident anaesthetist at Leith Hospital, Edinburgh, from January to July 1943, and then a house surgeon at Sunderland Royal Infirmary. From March to October 1945 he was a resident surgical officer at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. He then became an ENT registrar and clinical assistant in Manchester. From 1950 to 1953 he was an ENT registrar at the Salford Royal and Eccles and Patricroft hospitals. In January 1954 he became a senior ENT registrar at the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital, Bradford. In 1956 he was appointed to University College, Ibadan, as a senior lecturer. In October 1963 he became an associate professor and, in October 1967, professor of otorhinolaryngology. He was head of department on two occasions - from 1968 to 1979 and then again briefly in January 1984. He pioneered the study of rhinophycomycosis, a subcutaneous fungal infection. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1951 and of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1953. In 1985 he was awarded the Adesuyi prize for his contributions to health care in West Africa. Martinson formally retired in 1976, but carried on working for another 10 years, training a new generation of otorhinolaryngologists in West Africa. He died on 21 January 2010, aged 93.