Nobel prize winner, scientist and outstanding urologist, Charlie Huggins changed forever the way scientists regard the behaviour of cancer cells. He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 22 September 1901, the son of Charles Edward Huggins, a pharmacist, and Bessie Marie née Spencer. He was e

Andrew Ball, always known to his friends as 'Andy', was a consultant urologist in Southend, Essex. He was born in Bristol on 22 July 1949, the son of Keith Seymour Ball and Joan S Ball née Godfrey. Both parents were schoolteachers in the city and in his youth he regularly accompanied his father to s

Rikus Schoonees was a urologist in Cape Town, South Africa. He was born in Kuruman, South Africa, on 20 October 1937. His father, Diderikus Anthonie Schoonees, was a university lecturer; his mother, Maria Magdalena Schoonees née Van Der Bergh, was the daughter of a farmer. He was educated at Paul Ro

Patrick Michael Kelly was born in Dublin on 23 July 1912, the son of Sir Patrick Kelly, CIE, Commissioner of Police in Bombay. He was sent home with his mother who was expected to die of diabetes but she became one of the first recipients of insulin and lived on into her 80's still taking insulin! H

Leslie Ian Parton was born in Wellington on 26 October 1908, the only child of William Parton, an insurance company manager. He was educated at Mount Cook Boys' School and Wellington College where he was a senior national scholar in 1923 and a University national scholar in 1925. Two years later he

Samuel Scher started his medical studies at the University of Cape Town and, being a very bright student, he was awarded the MA in anatomy in 1926 with such brilliant classmates as Sir Solly Zuckerman, Tom Dry and David Slome. He then entered University College Hospital in London, qualified in 1930

Alec Badenoch was born in Banff on 23 June 1903, the son of John Alexander Badenoch, a chartered accountant, and Georgina Dingwall Joiner, daughter of a master mariner. He was educated at Banff Academy and went on the Marischal College, Aberdeen, to read English Literature, but later changed to medi

John Maddern, a major founder of the Urology training scheme, recently died on 8.3.2015. He has left a lasting legacy. John was born in 1925, schooled in Adelaide, and graduated MBBS at Adelaide University in 1948. He commenced a 40-year association with Royal Adelaide Hospital when he started as

Ashton Miller, always known as 'Jerry', was born in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, on 10 September 1908, the fourth child and only son of William Ashton Miller, a banker and brewery director, and Adeline Louisa, née Porter, a farmer's daughter. He was educated at Tonbridge School before going up to

Colin McRae was a distinguished New Zealand surgeon and a former President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He was born in Waipukurau, New Zealand, on 18 March 1942. His father, Colin, and mother, Freda, were both schoolteachers. He was educated at Henderson High School, Auckland, and

Born in Manchester in 1934, John Bowden Garland studied medicine at Manchester University. After junior appointments, he specialised in urology and completed registrar appointments in Preston under Harry Graham and Dennis Poole-Wilson at Salford Royal Hospital. He wrote his MD thesis on chronic pros

Denis Poole-Wilson, a consultant surgeon at Salford, was an outstanding urologist of the post-war years, whose pupils went on to staff many of the most successful departments. He began by transforming the situation in Manchester. By demonstrating that treatment, especially for cancer, could be more