Arnold Katz was born on 10 September 1920 in the town of Benoni in the East Rand, the eldest son of Abe and Anne Katz. His parents were expatriate Lithuanian Jews, and his father was a businessman in the import and export trade, who later moved to Cape Town. Both his parents died at an early age and he was effectively brought up by his grandparents. He had a sister who became a radiographer in South Africa, and a brother who was sent to train in Liverpool in the 1920's, returning to become one of the leading neurologists in Johannesburg; thus there was never any doubt that Arnold would go into medicine. One of Arnold's earliest memories was of the riots involving white mine workers in 1924 and 1925, when he was caught in a riot in a park and was rescued by his black nanny, who hid him under her skirts and got him home safely. Moving to Cape Town in 1926, he completed his schooling at Wynberg Boys' School and qualified in medicine at the University of Cape Town in 1942, receiving the Thackwray Prize for the most promising student in surgery. He then completed his internship under Professor Brock and Professor Saint at the Groote Schuur Hospital and also worked with Professor Goetz in experiments on the peripheral circulation. After a short spell in Johannesburg and Durban he returned to Groote Schuur Hospital, completing his MCh in 1946 and continuing his research on Raynaud's phenomenon with Professor Goetz. In 1950 he was awarded a Cecil John Adams Travelling Fellowship, which allowed him to obtain his FRCS and to train in paediatric surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital under Mr Twistington-Higgins and David Innes-Williams. In 1952 he returned to Cape Town to private general surgical practice and as a part-time consultant at Groote Schuur Hospital, where his interest in paediatric surgery made him a most valuable member of Professor J H Louw's team. When the Red Cross Children's Hospital opened he was appointed consultant in charge of a surgical ward, with particular responsibility for the treatment of paediatric osteomyelitis. His interest also extended to the management of children with malignant disease, but it was his interest in osteomyelitis that led to a Hunterian Professorship in 1978. He was also responsible for identifying the first familial group of Hirschsprung's children, and it is of interest that the gene responsible for this disease was identified in the week that he died. He was a founder member of the South African Association of Paediatric Surgeons, served as Vice-Chairman of the World Fellowship of the Israeli Medical Association and played an active part in the Cape Town Jewish community. A large donation from a grateful patient was diverted to fund the Tel Aviv Department of Paediatric Surgery. In 1990 that department honoured Dr Katz with the Distinguished Surgeons' Award, certificate and medal for his contributions to the department and to paediatric surgery in Cape Town and South Africa. He is remembered for his undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. His athletic achievements included a full blue for hockey at the University of Cape Town in 1941. He was also a keen runner, and completed a marathon at the age of 68. He died on 22 July 1994, his wife Bussa having predeceased him, survived by his sons David (who became Professor of Immunology at University College London Medical School) and Evan, and a daughter, Debra, a nutritional expert at the Albert Einstein Institute in New York. **See below for an expanded version of the original obituary which was printed in volume 7 of Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows. Please contact the library if you would like more information lives@rcseng.ac.uk** Arnold Katz was a general and paediatric surgeon in Cape Town, South Africa. He was born on 10 September 1920 in the town of Benoni in the East Rand, the eldest son of Abe and Anne Katz (née Swil). His grandparents and parents were expatriate Lithuanian Jews who had emigrated to South Africa between 1907 and 1910. They succeeded in business, so that already by 1920 his father’s youngest brother had been sent to Liverpool to study medicine. Later this uncle returned to South Africa to become one of the leading neurologists in Johannesburg – thus there was never any real doubt that Arnold would study medicine. One of Arnold’s earliest memories was of riots involving mine workers during 1924 to 1925, when he was trapped in a park under gunfire and was rescued by his nanny, who hid him under her skirt and got him home safely. Moving to Cape Town in 1925, where his father became a successful businessman in the import and export trade, he completed his schooling at Wynberg Boys’ High School. He qualified in medicine at the University of Cape Town in 1942, receiving the Thackwray prize for the most promising student in surgery. Two siblings also took up medical careers: his sister became a radiographer, who volunteered in Israel in 1948, and was one of the first radiographers there before she returned to South Africa; and his youngest brother became a general practitioner. Arnold completed his internship under John Fleming Brock and Charles Frederick Morris Saint at the Groote Schuur Hospital. After a short spell in Johannesburg and Durban he returned to Groote Schuur Hospital, where he continued his research on peripheral circulation, in particular on the role of the sympathetic nervous system in Raynaud’s phenomenon, supervised by Robert Goetz. During this period, he also did further clinical surgical training under the supervision of George Sacks. In 1950 he was awarded a Cecil John Adams travelling fellowship, which allowed him to obtain his FRCS and to train in paediatric surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital under Thomas Twistington Higgins and David Innes Williams. n 1952 he returned to Cape Town to private general surgical practice and as a part-time consultant at Groote Schuur Hospital, where his interest in paediatric surgery made him a most valuable member of J H (Jannie) Louw’s team. When the Red Cross Children’s Hospital opened, he was appointed as a consultant in charge of a surgical ward, with particular responsibility for the treatment of paediatric osteomyelitis. His interest also extended to the management of children with malignant disease, introducing basic chemotherapy to supplement surgery for Wilms’ tumour and neuroblastoma; but it was his interest in osteomyelitis that led to a Hunterian Professorship in 1978. He was also responsible for identifying the first familial group of Hirschsprung’s children and continued to take an interest in the subject – sadly the gene responsible for this disease was identified only in the week that he died. He was a founder member of the South African Association of Paediatric Surgeons, served as vice chairman of the Israeli Medical Association World Fellowship and played an active part in the Cape Town Jewish community. A large donation from a grateful patient was diverted to fund the Tel Aviv department of paediatric surgery. In 1990 that department honoured Katz with the distinguished surgeons’ award, certificate and medal for his contributions not only to that the department but also to paediatric surgery in Cape Town and South Africa. He is widely remembered for his undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. His athletic achievements included representing University of Cape Town at hockey in 1941. He was a bowler, and a keen runner, completing his last marathon at the age of 68. He died on 22 July 1994. His wife Ray (née Bussa) predeceased him. He was survived by his sons David (who became professor of immunopathology at University College London) and Evan, and a daughter, Debra, a nutritional expert (who worked at the Albert Einstein Hospital Medical School and Columbia) in New York. David Katz