R Kesavan Nayar was professor of surgery at Medical College, Trivandrum, and the first superintendent of the Medical College Hospital. He was born in Trivandrum, southern India, on 6 September 1910, the second child and eldest son of Raman Tampi, a physician and chief medical officer of Travancore state, and Chellamma Tampi. He was educated at Sree Moola Vilasam School in Trivandrum, University College, Trivandrum, and then Madras University, where he studied medicine. He qualified MB BS in 1933 and gained the Hobart prize for surgery. He trained in orthopaedics in Vienna and in radium treatment in Glasgow. He gained his FRCS in 1937. He later joined the General Hospital, Trivandrum, as chief of surgery. When the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru commissioned the Medical College and Hospital in Trivandrum in 1954, Nayar was appointed as the chief surgeon and superintendent. He held this post until 1962, when he joined Calicut Medical College. When he retired in 1966 he was principal of Kottayam Medical College. He was president of the Kerala Medical Association and of the Travancore-Cochin Medical Council. He was also a member of the Medical Council of India. From 1955 to 1956 he was president of the Rotary Club of Trivandrum. He was also an honorary member of the Kerala Football Association, the Kerala Sports Council, Trivandrum Tennis Club and various religious organisations. In 1938 he married Sarojini Amma. They had four sons and a daughter. One son became a surgeon. Nayar died on 30 July 2005, aged 94.