Edward Barker, or 'Edoo', was born in Johannesburg in 1926 and came to England to specialise in surgery. Having passed the FRCS he returned to South Africa in 1959, working for a time in private practice before returning to full-time academic work in the University of Natal in 1991. There he did research on biliary tract and pelvic surgery, was an excellent teacher and became head of the department of surgery at Addington Hospital and senior lecturer at the University of Natal, Durban. He was a member of the Committee for Human Rights, Law and Ethics and testified on behalf of the Medical Association of South Africa to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. He worked tirelessly for the underprivileged and took a stance on matters of principle, even when this was not popular. He leaves a wife, Paulette, and five children, one of whom is a pulmonologist in the United States. He died on 5 May 1999.