Cover image for
Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E001959 - Smart, Graham Frederick (1915 - 2011)
Title:
Smart, Graham Frederick (1915 - 2011)
Author:
Sarah Gillam
Identifier:
RCS: E001959
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2012-02-03

2014-01-24
Description:
Obituary for Smart, Graham Frederick (1915 - 2011), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Smart, Graham Frederick
Date of Birth:
8 November 1915
Place of Birth:
Croydon, Surrey, UK
Date of Death:
December 2011
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
MNZM 2004

MB BS London 1940

MRCS 1940

FRCS 1947

FRACS 1958
Details:
Graham Smart was a general surgeon at Wairau Hospital, Blenheim, New Zealand. He was born in Croydon, Surrey, on 8 November 1915, the son of Sidney William Smart, a railway executive, and Lilian Smart née Bachelar. He attended elementary school in Croydon and went on to Selhurst Grammar School. As a teenager he developed osteomyelitis in his left upper tibia, underwent several operations and was left with damage to his ligaments and knee joint, but the experience did influence his decision to become a doctor. He trained at Guy's Hospital, qualifying MB BS in 1940. After a post as a house surgeon at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, he decided on a surgical career. He was rejected for military service in the Second World War due to his knee disability. From 1941 to 1947 he trained in general surgery, including a year as a demonstrator in anatomy at Guy's and four years at East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital. He gained his FRCS in 1947. He decided to emigrate to New Zealand and was appointed as medical superintendent and surgeon at Westland Hospital, Hokitika, in 1948. Two years later he transferred to Wairau Hospital, where he quickly reorganised and expanded the hospital, helping with the design and development of a new clinical services block, ward block and a theatre complex, now named in his honour. As well as tackling a large administrative burden, he managed to fit in the work of a full-time surgeon. He was particularly interested in orthopaedic surgery and was supported by weekly visits from the Wellington orthopaedic surgeons. Outside medicine he enjoyed music, drama and the arts. He was chairman of the Chamber Music Society from 1959 to 1970, and president of the repertory theatre from 1961 to 1969 and a life member from 1977. He also directed and acted in plays. In 2003 he was awarded the MNZM (member of the New Zealand Order of Merit) for his services to medicine and the community. In 1944 he married Ann and they had three sons, but the marriage failed shortly after the family emigrated to New Zealand. In 1950 he married Jean, a South African nurse. They went on to have four daughters. He had bought two acres of land in the Queen Charlotte Sound during his early years in New Zealand and, when he retired in 1980, he and Jean built a new house there, where they enjoyed a long and happy retirement. He died in December 2011, aged 96.
Sources:
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons - In Memoriam www.surgeons.org/member-services/in-memoriam/graham-smart/ - accessed 8 January 2014
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001900-E001999
Media Type:
Unknown