Damasio Da Costa was born in Zanzibar on 26 July 1927. He was educated in Goa and then at Bombay University, where he graduated MB BS in 1954. Coming to England he was appointed registrar at the Whiston Hospital in Liverpool and then senior registrar to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Blackpool. He became a Fellow of the College in 1965 and took up an appointment as a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at Grimsby and Louth Hospitals in 1967. He remained in post until 1989, dividing his time between the two hospitals. He was particularly proud of helping to set up a new, purpose-built unit at the old Grimsby General Hospital, where he introduced many new techniques into his clinical practice. An athlete in his youth, Da Costa more recently played badminton and golf. He was a member of the North of England Otolaryngological Society, founder chairman of Grimsby Overseas Doctors' Association, and a freemason. He remained a passionate, if occasionally exasperated, supporter of Grimsby Town Football Club. A great conversationalist and raconteur, he had a wide circle of friends. He died on 19 January 1992, survived by his wife, Carol, and their four children, Yvonne, Adrian, Madeleine and Rosalind.