Eric Musard Nanson was born in Geraldine, South Canterbury, New Zealand, on 4 January 1915, the youngest of five children of Gerald Bouchier Nanson, an Anglican vicar and Gertrude Florence (née Bell). His early education was at the Cathedral Grammar School, Christchurch and at Christ's College, Christchurch. He was awarded the University National Scholarship of New Zealand in 1934 and in that year went to Canterbury University College before proceeding to Otago University in the following year for medical studies. In 1937 he was awarded the senior university scholarship of New Zealand and he qualified in 1939. His early appointment was as house surgeon at Christchurch Hospital from 1939 to 1941 but during part of this time he also served as demonstrator in anatomy in the University of Otago. He then joined the New Zealand Medical Corps as a Captain from 1941 until 1945, serving with the second New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Middle East, North Africa and Italy as Officer Commanding an ambulance train and medical officer in both a field ambulance and a base hospital. In 1945 he married Vera Anne Morrow, a nurse in the Army whom he met in Egypt. After demobilisation in 1945 he was initially surgical registrar at Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, and later surgeon superintendant at Buller Hospital, Westport before deciding to come to England. Within a few months of arriving he had passed the FRCS and was surgical registrar to Norman Tanner at St James' Hospital, Balham, and later assistant in the surgical professorial unit at St Bartholomew's Hospital under Sir James Paterson Ross. He spent a year as senior surgical registrar at St Peter's Hospital, Henrietta Street, before going to work as Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in the department of surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, for nine months. He returned to England in 1951 and worked in Bristol as lecturer in surgery at the University under Professor Milnes Walker for just over a year before being invited to return to Johns Hopkins as Associate Professor of Surgery under Alfred Blalock. He was elected Hunterian Professor on two occasions. In 1950 he lectured on respiratory responses to operative trauma and in 1959 spoke on tumours of the salivary glands. He carried out a prodigious amount of research work throughout his life which was published in over 100 papers in Canadian, British, American and New Zealand journals. These covered a wide range of subjects and reflected his extensive knowledge and experience in surgery. In 1954 he was appointed as the Foundation Professor of Surgery at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, and consultant surgeon to the City Hospital, St Paul's Hospital and the Saskatoon Sanatorium. He remained in this post for fifteen years and played an important role in the development of the undergraduate medical curriculum which is regarded as one of the most outstanding in the western world. He also pursued a policy of continuing medical education and postgraduate education which enabled Saskatchewan to rely on its own graduates rather than immigrant doctors from other provinces and countries. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in 1954 and of the American College of Surgeons in 1956. In 1970 he was appointed Foundation Professor of Surgery in the School of Medicine at the University of Auckland and held this post for ten years. His enthusiasm persisted and in addition to introducing the concept of a trainee internship to the department of surgery, he was co-author of the *Handbook for clinical students* which is a constant companion to undergraduate medical students. He continued to perform administrative duties in addition to his clinical and teaching commitments. After retiring from the Chair of Surgery at Auckland, he was awarded the OBE. His interest in academic work was such that after retiring from clinical work he taught anatomy at the Auckland Medical School. His enthusiasm for clinical work persisted and he continued to attend surgical meetings until shortly before his death. Apart from his professorial commitment, he was a devoted churchman and the centre of a closeknit family. His hobbies were golf and fishing. He had a son, John, and two daughters, Jennifer and Judith and the younger daughter took up nursing. He died at his home in Auckland on 27 September 1988 aged 73, survived by his wife and family.