Pierre Stagnara was one of the most outstanding French orthopaedic surgeons of his day, and was awarded the honorary FRCS in 1985. He was born in Loriol, France, on 16 January 1917, the son of a civil servant. He studied medicine in Lyon, qualifying in 1938. Soon afterwards he was inevitably called up for military service but after the hostilities he returned to Lyon, where he worked in both public and private hospitals. He devoted himself chiefly to the orthopaedic care of children. In 1959 he became Chief of the Centre des Massues where he pioneered the physiotherapy and rehabilitation which were such important features of that Centre. His particular contributions were in the non-surgical management of scoliosis, for which he devised many new techniques. His book *Deformations du rachis* gained worldwide circulation. He married Denise Locard in 1942; it was a fruitful union blessed with ten children, and before his death he was the proud grandfather of thirty one. After retirement in 1982 he cultivated his vineyards and together with his wife produced a sociological thesis entitled *Faithful love - utopia or reality?* He died on 1 July 1995.