Stuart Stanton was a professor of pelvic surgery and urogynaecology at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London and a key figure in the development of urogynaecology as a specialty in the UK. He was born on 24 October 1938, the son of Michael Arthur Stanton, a general practitioner, and Sarah Stanton née Joseph, and grew up in Dagenham, East London. He attended the City of London School and then studied medicine at the London Hospital Medical School from 1956 to 1961. The specialty that most interested him as a student was obstetrics: surprisingly, he thought gynaecology was a very ‘Cinderella’ accompaniment. After qualifying and a series of jobs, including at the Royal Masonic and Queen Charlotte’s hospitals, he completed his FRCS in 1967 and MRCOG in 1969. He developed a research interest and worked as a research registrar at the Institute of Urology in London from 1971 to 1972 under the auspices of Richard Turner-Warwick, treating both men and women. He realised the two specialties – gynaecology and urology – should be brought together. This sealed his career in urogynaecology. Urogynaecology was not well developed as a subspecialty in the UK at the time, and there was opposition from urologists who did not want gynaecologists stepping on their territory. Stanton, a determined and driven man, travelled to the US to meet leaders in the field, such as Don Ostergard, and brought new surgical techniques back to the UK. The most notable of these was colposuspension. During the 1980s and 1990s colposuspension became the gold standard surgical procedure for treating stress incontinence. Stanton ensured that all work done in his unit was backed by evidence, encouraging all his trainees to perform research under his guidance. He served on the editorial boards of several journals, held multiple visiting professorships, co-authored 13 textbooks, supervised eight MD theses and published 220 original papers. Stuart was appointed as a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at St Helier Hospital, Carshalton, with two weekly sessions at St George’s Hospital to develop a urogynaecology service. With the support of Geoffrey Chamberlain, the departmental chair, Stuart was appointed as a consultant gynaecologist and director of the urogynaecology unit at St George’s Hospital, London and continued this role until his retirement in 2003. Stuart was responsible for founding the subspecialty of urogynaecology in the UK despite opposition from many in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and elsewhere. He fought this with great conviction, and it was eventually agreed that gynaecological urology would be ‘a smaller 4th subspecialty’. He recommended changing the name to urogynaecology in line with other countries. Subsequently, he was responsible for setting up the programme and training the first subspecialist in urogynaecology in the UK, who completed training in 1995. In 1997 he was awarded a personal chair at St George’s Hospital Medical School in pelvic surgery and urogynaecology. He trained multiple doctors from the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Brazil, Turkey, Greece, Japan and Saudi Arabia, and was extremely loyal and supportive to them all. Many are leading figures in the field of urogynaecology and part of the ‘Stanton family’. As a mentor to his trainees, he led by example, being extremely dedicated to his work, but found time to share his humour, fun, empathy and understanding. He loved travelling and meeting people from varied backgrounds and cultures. This, in turn, led to the international background of the trainees he attracted and supported. During national and international conferences, he would always introduce his trainees to his specialty colleagues and friends and encourage networking. He was a founding member of the International Continence Society, the International Urogynecological Association and the British Society of Urogynaecology, for which he was made honorary president in recognition for all that he had done for the subspecialty. He was married twice. In 1965 he married Anne Frances Goldsmith. They had three daughters and divorced in 1991. He then married Julia Heller and had a son and a daughter. Stuart died on 21 May 2024 at the age of 85. He was survived by Julia, his children Claire, Talia, Jo, Tamara and Noah, and nine grandchildren. As we mourn the passing of Stuart Stanton, let us also celebrate his remarkable life and his profound influence on the world of urogynaecology. The subspecialty is where it is today, thanks to him.