Julius Karl Bremer was born in October 1922. He was educated at the high school in Graaf-Reinet and qualified MB ChB from the University of Kaapstad in 1935. During his years at the University he had a distinguished academic record and was elected to be chairman of the students' council. He won the debating society's speaker's cup and was co-editor of the medical students' magazine Inyanga. In 1933 an article by him was published in this magazine on tumours of the pituitary and it was probably one of the first articles in Afrikaans by a student. After hospital appointments under Professors Falconer and Saint he decided to pursue surgery and worked at various hospitals, among them St Thomas's and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London. He obtained the MRCS in 1937 and the Fellowship the following year. In 1940 he returned to South Africa becoming part-time assistant to Dr F du Toiti van Zyl and working at the Groote Schuur Hospital. In 1944 he moved to Pretoria to set up in private practice and joined the staff of the medical faculty of Pretoria University becoming part-time senior lecturer in anatomy and then in surgery. From 1950 to 1985 he was Professor of Surgery at the University and at the Pretoria General Hospital. Julius Bremer was a practical hard-working surgeon. His main area of research was vascular surgery. He worked for the Medical Society of South Africa from 1940 and he became President of the North Transvaal Branch in 1963, National President in 1969 and Chairman of the Federal Board of the MSSA from 1972 to 1974. He served on a number of committees including the membership committee and represented the MSSA at meetings of the World Medical Society. In 1967 the MSSA presented him with its bronze medal and in 1970 he was awarded the gold. He also served several times as an elected member of the Medical and Dental Council of South Africa working on various committees and becoming vice-president in 1985. It is not known when he married but he and his wife, Jeanette, had two daughters and three sons of whom two now practice medicine. He was an inspirational teacher and a loyal friend with a fine sense of humour. He died on 1 October 1987, ten days before his 75th birthday, survived by his wife and family.