William Stewart Duke-Elder was born on 22 April 1898 at Tealing, near Dundee, the son of a Scottish minister. Before proceeding to St Andrew's University as a foundation scholar in 1915 he had been a brilliant pupil at school and was invariably top of the class. He graduated MA in 1919 with first class honours in natural science and also took the BSc with distinction in physiology. He qualified with the MB ChB in 1923, obtained the FRCS England in 1924 and the MD of St Andrews, in which he gained a Gold Medal, in 1925. Also in 1925 he obtained a PhD from London University. Early in his career at the instigation of Sir John Parsons FRS he devoted time to researching the physiology of the eye at University College London with Professor Starling and in biochemistry with Dr Drummond. He was consecutively Plimmer Research Fellow (1926), Laking Research Scholar (1926-29), Reittinger Professor (1926), BMA Scholar (1927), BMA Middlemore Prizeman (1929) and Research Associate (1933). At an early stage in his career he built up a large private practice and in 1932 he operated on the then Prime Minister, Ramsey Macdonald, for glaucoma which brought his name before the public. He achieved the distinction of being appointed Surgeon Oculist to King Edward VIII and subsequently to King George VI and then Queen Elizabeth II. He was knighted in 1933 and was appointed KCVO in 1946 and GCVO in 1958. Duke-Elder was best known for his many contributions to medical literature, the first and foremost being his *Textbook of ophthalmology* in seven volumes (1932-1954). In recognition of this he was awarded the Fothergillian Prize of the Medical Society of London. Realising that some of this work already needed rewriting and updating, he decided to bring out a much larger work entitled *A system of ophthalmology* in fifteen volumes, the first being published in 1958 and the last in 1976. In these volumes he enlisted the help of his colleagues, but there is no doubt that the inspiration and clarity were his. *Recent advances in ophthalmology* was published in 1927 and *Practice of refraction* in 1928. Early in life he learned to depend upon fewer hours of sleep than most people, and that is part of the explanation of his amazing output of literature. Apart from these major works and a series of articles in many ophthalmic and scientific journals he was for many years editor of the *British journal of ophthalmology* and of *Ophthalmic literature*. The amalgamation of the three main eye hospitals in London (Moorfields, the Royal Westminster and the Central London) and the formation of the Institute of Ophthalmology, was put into action a year before the inauguration of the NHS largely due to his efforts, encouraged and assisted by Sir John Parsons and Ida Mann. As early as 1937 Duke-Elder made plans for an Institute of Ophthalmology, for research done in the British Isles was mainly clinical and there was no centre where properly organised research work was undertaken. This was especially true of ocular pathology and the basic sciences. As Director of Research at the Institute for seventeen years he organised and coordinated the work. He gave much time to arranging research projects and was instrumental in acquiring financial help from charitable organisations. It was largely for this that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, a distinction which nowadays is rarely conferred upon members of the medical profession who are primarily involved in clinical work. He was the second ophthalmologist to gain this distinction in the present century. The establishment of a special fellowship examination in ophthalmology at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1947 was mainly due to his efforts. Previously anyone who wished to sit for it had to pass the examination in general surgery first. Duke-Elder was one of the pioneers who initiated the Diploma of Ophthalmological Medicine and Surgery (DOMS), later to be changed to the Diploma of Ophthalmology (DO), and was one of the first to be appointed an examiner in these. In 1945, he helped to set up the Faculty of Ophthalmologists at the College. He was its first President, holding office for four years. The purpose of the Faculty was to act as a single authoritative and representative body to represent ophthalmology in matters of public and professional interest and to further the good of the community on ophthalmic matters. In 1950 he chaired the XVI International Congress of Ophthalmology in London. Duke-Elder was a warm-hearted and friendly Scot with a delightfully informal manner. His charming smile and puckish sense of humour put strangers at ease. He also had the ability to listen, and to take a friendly interest in the personal problems of his colleagues. His advice was invariably sound and given with careful thought. His judgement and sense of timing was amazing and always based on a profound knowledge of his subject. He had the capacity and power of cheerfully over-riding difficulties which to some would have seemed insurmountable. He excelled at committee meetings when he would sum up the situation with a wise and simple solution showing foresight and judgement and rendering further discussion unnecessary. His private practice was enormous not only because of his clinical skill and judgement, but also because of his kindness and obvious concern for each patient's welfare. His opinion was sought from all over the world. In the second world war he was consultant ophthalmic surgeon to the Army with the rank of Brigadier. His duties involved visits to overseas hospitals and units in many theatres of the war. He was subsequently civilian consultant in ophthalmology to the RAF and also ophthalmic advisor to the Ministries of Health, Supply and Labour and to the London Transport Board. The many medals he was given included the William MacKenzie Medal (Glasgow) in 1929, the Nettleship Medal (Ophthalmological Society of the UK) 1933, the Howe Medal (USA) 1946, the Research Medal of the American Medical Association 1947, the Donders Medal (Holland) 1947, the Doyne Medal (Oxford) 1948, the Gullstrand Medal (Sweden) 1952, the Medal of Strasbourg University 1962 and of Ghent University 1953, the Gonin Medal (International) 1954, the Lister Medal (Royal College of Surgeons of England) 1956, the Bowman Medal (Ophthalmological Society of the UK) 1957, the Ophthalmiatreion Medal (Athens) 1957, the Proctor Medal (USA) 1961 and the Lang Medal (Royal Society of Medicine of London) 1965. He also received the Bronze Star Medal of the USA and the Star of Jordan (1st Class). He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Phoenix of Greece and a Commander of the Orthodox Crusaders of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem). In 1944 he was admitted to membership of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem and in 1954 was appointed Hospitaller of the Order in succession to Lord Webb-Johnson. His services to the Order were immense. In 1882 under the Ottoman Government a British eye hospital and dispensary had been built in Jerusalem near the Jaffa Gate by the Order of St John for the people in Palestine suffering from eye disease. This hospital, was restored and reopened in 1919, its work grew rapidly and it was busy throughout the second world war. Following the break between the Arabs and Israelis, the resulting Armistice line was such that the hospital was now on the Israeli side of the city of Jerusalem and Arab patients could no longer be treated there. To cater for them (since they always constituted the bulk of patients) a temporary hospital was set up in two houses owned by the Order of St John in the centre of the old city, then in Jordan. As Hospitaller and Chairman of the Hospital Committee Duke-Elder worked hard to get a better hospital, and eventually contributions flowed in. A magnificently equipped new St John Ophthalmic Hospital, situated on the Nablus Road in East Jerusalem was opened in October 1960 by Lord Wakehurst, Lord Prior of the Order, on behalf of the Grand Prior, the Duke of Gloucester. Before the hospital itself was completed he had organised the building of a set of pathological laboratories where early research into the cause of trachoma was carried out. He worked indefatigably as Hospitaller making all the appointments to the medical and nursing staff, keeping the equipment up to date and seeking financial help and visiting the hospital annually, with his wife. It was largely due to his efforts that the hospital flourished. Duke-Elder, who had been promoted to the rank of Knight of the Order of St John, was subsequently promoted Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order and also Councillor of the Hospital Committee. Duke-Elder was a happily married man with a charming wife who greatly helped and supported him throughout his professional life. She had graduated in medicine in 1926 and subsequently worked as clinical assistant in Stewart's out-patient clinic at Moorfields. During the second world war she was in charge of the Zachary Merton Hospital at Banstead to which special cases were referred from the army. An ideal hostess, she never forgot the names of newcomers, nor omitted to cater for their special needs. Few married couples can have done so much for so many of their colleagues, they had no children, and when he died on 27 March 1978, Phyllis survived him.