Jan Nuboer was born on 6 February 1900, in Batavia, now Djakarta, the son of a naval officer, who became a planter. He wrote many publications and achieved international renown in abdominal and lung surgery. He advocated a tube from the greater curvature when treating malignant disease of the stomach and it is sometimes called the Nuboer tube. He was Professor of Surgery at the University of Utrecht and amongst others, doctor *honoris causa* of the Universities of Paris, Leeds and Strasbourg and Wroclav, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England, Edinburgh and Ireland, of the College of Surgeons of America, of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. He was also Commandeur de l'Ordre de la Sante Publique de France. His services to the Royal Family were rewarded with the Grand Cross of the Order of the House of Orange. His university awarded him the Order of the Netherlands Lion and the Dutch Surgical Association made him an honorary member. Nuboer was a traditionalist. The early years, spent in the colonies and the later years of training and working in a European continental milieu, which was mainly under the influence of the universities of the German speaking world, left an indelible mark on him. He made use of all his gifts and all his power and he fought openly for surgery in general. He was perhaps the last of the 'omniscient' masters of surgery and certainly a personality with great qualities. He was married and had one daughter and two sons. He died suddenly on 26 June 1979, aged 79 years.