Russell Kneale Magee was born in Hamilton, Ontario on 27 May 1906 and was educated at the University of Toronto from where he graduated in 1930. After qualification he spent two years in England during which time he attended courses at St Thomas's and St Bartholomew's Hospitals. For nine months he was resident surgical officer at the Gordon Hospital and before leaving England he obtained his English Fellowship in 1936. After returning to Canada he became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, being certified in urology, orthopaedics and general surgery. He was appointed to the staff of Petersborough, Civic, and St Josephs Hospitals until the outbreak of the second world war. During the war he served in England, Belgium and Holland, returning to Canada when the war ended. His chief interest was in the treatment of cancer and he was held in high respect by his colleagues in Canada, the United States and this country. Kneale died on 26 November 1972 and he was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.