Rudolph Blach was dean of the Institute of Ophthalmology, London, and a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He was the son of Hedwig Jeanette Blach, a nurse companion. She was originally from Germany, but became a British citizen in 1948, at the same time as her son. Blach studied at Cambridge University and St Thomas' Hospital Medical School. He qualified with his BChir in 1955 and the MB in 1956. In 1962 he gained his FRCS. He was a house physician at St Thomas' Hospital and carried out his National Service as a captain in the RAMC. He then held training posts in ophthalmic surgery at Moorfields. Prior to his appointment to the staff at Moorfields he was a consultant in ophthalmic surgery at St Mary's Hospital, London, and an honorary consultant at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital. He wrote papers and chapters on diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, degenerative myopia, vitreous surgery and macular disease, among other subjects. He was a former deputy master of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress. Rudolph Blach died on 14 November 2013.