Vincent Briffa was a consultant ENT surgeon at Hammersmith Hospital. He was born in Malta, where he studied medicine. After qualifying in 1949, he came to the United Kingdom to study otorhinolaryngology. He was a clinical assistant at the Royal National Ear Nose and Throat Hospital in London, and obtained the diploma in laryngology and otology in 1956. After registrar appointments at the Central Middlesex Hospital and the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, he was appointed as a clinical assistant at Hammersmith, where he remained for the rest of his professional life. He was unmarried and died on 5 October 1998.