Wilfred Anthony de Souza was a general surgeon in Goa and chief minister of the state on three occasions. He was born on 23 April 1927 at Vagator, Anjuna, a small village in north Goa, the son of Tito Fermino de Souza, a doctor, and Alina Ana Maria de Souza. In 1930 Wilfred's father went to Kampala, Uganda, to substitute for a colleague who was proceeding to England for further studies. In 1932, Alina Ana Maria, along with her sons, Wilfred and Orlando, joined her husband in Kampala, and Wilfred was enrolled in the Norman Godinho Goan School. In 1936 he transferred to the Government Indian School in the fifth grade. In 1941, Wilfred and his elder brother Romuald, who had joined the family in Kampala, returned to Goa and registered in the St Thomas High School in Aldona to take the matriculation examination of Bombay University. On passing the matriculation examination, Wilfred joined the Karnataka College in Dharwad and was there for two years while he completed the inter science examination of Bombay University. In 1944 he joined the Nair College of Medicine and earned the licentiate in medicine and was an intern at St George Hospital in Bombay in 1948. He continued his medical studies and completed his MB BS degree in 1953. He then went to the United Arab Emirates as a personal physician to the ruling sheikhs. In May 1957 he proceeded to England to pursue postgraduate studies in general surgery, after which he worked in several hospitals in the UK prior to taking his fellowship exams. In March 1961 he gained his fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and in May 1961 he was awarded the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. On 4 February 1963 Wilfred returned to India, choosing to work in Goa. At this time Goa was going through a period of transition after its integration into the Indian union after over 450 years of Portuguese rule. There were a number of well-qualified physicians in Goa, but no surgeons. In case of surgical emergencies, Goans had to depend on Goan surgeons from Bombay, who travelled to Goa on weekends to perform surgeries, or alternatively the patients had to travel to Bombay for surgical help. Wilfred decided to provide surgical treatment in Goa itself, even though there were many difficulties, including a lack of proper equipment. In 1964 he was appointed as director of the Asilo Hospital Mapusa (north Goa), while simultaneously lecturing and practising at Goa Medical College, Panjim, Ribandar Hospital and Hospicio Hospital, Margao (south Goa). Travel between the hospitals was very difficult: there were no proper roads and no bridges, so a ferry had to be taken across two rivers. In 1969 he moved into private practice and continued until he was over 70. His love for his motherland, which brought him back to Goa, was the main reason for his foray into Goan politics, which began with the United Goan Party. He played an important part in the emotionally charged Opinion Poll of 1967. The ruling Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party had the idea of merging Goa with the state of Maharashtra, which would mean that Goans would have no say in the ruling of their state, no language to call their own and would lose their identity as a people. Goans won the Opinion Poll. Wilfred played a stellar role in the recognition of Konkani as the official language and the granting of statehood, battles that were long and complex. Wilfred was a larger-than-life character in the political arena of Goa. As well as his considerable contribution as a medical practitioner and surgeon, he was also a superb health minister, the best Goa has had. The Goa Medical College and Hospital complex in Bambolim is a prime testament of his vision. The credit for Goa becoming a premier health destination today goes to Wilfred. He became the chief minister of the state in 1993, after having won his first election from his home constituency of Saligao in 1989. Wilfred de Souza was recognised for his many contributions in various fields. Among other awards, in 1993 he gained the Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award. A year later, he was awarded the Eminent Goan Award of the Goa Cultural and Social Centre, and in 1995 he was presented with the Jawaharlal Nehru Excellence Award from the Institute of Economic Studies, New Delhi. In 1997 he was awarded the prestigious Dr B C Roy Award of the Medical Council of India. On 29 September 2000 he was made an honorary fellow of the International College of Surgeons. Outside medicine, his hobbies were philately, coin collecting, reading and playing the stock market. In April 1962 he married Grace Goodwin. They were married for over 53 years. Wilfred de Souza died on 4 September 2015. He was 88. He was survived by his widow and by their two daughters, Joanne and Suzie. In recognition of his services to the nation, the Government of Goa accorded him a state funeral with three days of state mourning.