Born in Baroda in 1917, the son of a farmer, Manibhai Patel went to Grant Medical College in Bombay and qualified MB BS and then obtained his MD in obstetrics and gynaecology. Proceeding to England he became FRCS in 1949 and then settled in Baroda. Here he became a prominent member of the medical school, head of the department of surgery and Honorary Professor. He examined for both the BS and the MS and for ten years was a member of the Senate. He married Sobhanaber, a BSc in Home Science and a dietician and, of their four children, one son is a surgeon, another is a practitioner, one daughter is also medically qualified and the other a dietician. He died in 1978.