Peter Curran was born on 22 May 1947 in Northampton, the fourth child of Peter Hyacinth Curran, a general practitioner in Northampton, and Alice Claire, née Kehoe. He was educated at Downside School and won an open exhibition to Brasenose College, Oxford, before entering the Middlesex Hospital Medical School to undertake his clinical studies. He qualified in 1971 and subsequently held junior appointments at the Middlesex and Central Middlesex Hospitals, and at Ipswich Hospital. In 1974 he was appointed ophthalmic registrar at the Westminster Hospital, working with Patrick Trevor-Roper, and in 1978 he became senior registrar at Moorfield's Hospital, working with Sir Allen Goldsmith. He was subsequently appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, where he worked for some years, his career being tragically interrupted when a journalist questioned his HIV status. Although he continued in practice thereafter, as an enthusiastic bibliophile he spent an increasing amount of time collecting books (preferably signed first editions) and browsing in the Athenaeum library. His other interests included opera, theatre and chess. He contributed to various journals, and was joint author of a major textbook of ophthalmology. He never married, and died of a malignant lymphoma on 23 May 1996, aged 49 years.