John A Mannick was chief of surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston and Moseley professor of surgery at Harvard University. He was born in Deadwood, South Dakota, the son of Alfred Mannick, an engineer, and Catherine Mannick née Schuster, an English teacher. As a youngster, his family moved

Sydney Rose was a vascular surgeon at Withington and Wythenshawe hospitals, Manchester. He was born in Manchester, the son of Hyman Leonard Rose, a merchant, and Rebecca Rose née Tofield, and gained a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School. He qualified from Manchester University Medical School in

Geoffrey Gilling-Smith was a consultant vascular surgeon at Royal Liverpool Hospital. He was born on 15 November 1955 at St George's Hospital, London, the son of Dryden Gilling-Smith, a businessman. His mother, who was head of the physics and chemistry department at the French Lycée in South Kensing

Daniel de Gourêt Villet was a surgeon in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He was born in South Africa, the son of Daniel du Plessis Villet, a chartered accountant, and Agnes Cecilia Villet née Huxham, a secretary. The Villet family was descended from a Frenchman, Charles Matharin Villet, a naturalist a

Frank Ashton was a consultant vascular surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. He was born in Birmingham on 26 April 1925. His mother died when he was two, and he moved to Manchester to live with relatives. He returned to Birmingham at the age of 11, when his father remarried, and atten

John Drew Hamer was a vascular surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. He was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on 2 November 1936. His father, John Llewellyn Hamer, was a headmaster, while his mother, Mabel Irene née Hawkins, was a nurse. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Nuneato

Chee Voon Soong was a leading vascular surgeon in Belfast and pioneer of endograft placement for ruptured aortic aneurysm. He was born in Ipoh, Malaya, on 7 June 1961, the son of two teachers. He was sent to the Methodist College, Belfast, for his early education, from which he went on to the Queen'

Christopher Savage was a consultant vascular surgeon at Leamington and Warwick Hospital. He was born in Kingston on Thames on 31 August 1915. His father, Arthur Livingstone Savage, was an architect, and his mother was the artist Agnes Kate Richardson. He was educated at Gate House School, Kingston,

André Nevelsteen was head of vascular surgery at the University Hospital of Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium. He was born in Geel on 8 August 1951. He studied medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven, graduating in 1975. He went on to train in general surgery and then specialised in vascular surg

John Richard Kenyon, known as ‘Ian’, was a former consultant vascular surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. His father, who was a general practitioner in Glasgow, died when Ian was just 13. His mother had been a Queen Alexandra nursing sister on various hospital ships during the Gallipoli campa

Vettivetpillai Ketharanathan or ‘Nathan’ was a senior research associate at the vascular surgery unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia. He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, on 25 November 1935 to Appiah Ketharanathan and Rukmani Nama (Sivayam) Ketharanathan, who were both teachers.

An internationally recognised vascular surgeon, Charles Rob made important innovations in the management of aortic aneurysm. He was born on 4 May 1913, the son of Joseph William Rob OBE, a family doctor in Weybridge, Surrey. His mother was descended from Edward 'Grog' Vernon, who introduced the rum