Norman Addison was a consultant surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary. He was born in Leeds on 26 April 1925, the son of Herbert Victor Addison and Alice née Chappell. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, where he won an exhibition and sixth form prizes in biology and chemistry. He went on to study medicine at Leeds University, where he also played rugby. After completing house posts, one of which was with P J Moir at Leeds General Infirmary, he did his National Service in the RAF as a Flight Leiutenant. He returned to demonstrate anatomy with A Durward while preparing for the Primary FRCS. Between 1955 and 1957 he trained at Leeds General Infirmary and was one of the first to be enrolled into a senior surgical registrar rotation. He was appointed consultant surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital in 1963, becoming the first postgraduate tutor, converting a former mill-owner’s mansion into a Postgraduate Medical Centre. After serving on the council of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland he became treasurer and then president in 1987, holding the annual general meeting at Harrogate. Norman was granted a Hunterian Professorship in 1982 and was a member of the Court of Examiners. In 1949 he married Joan King, the daughter of the professor of chemistry textiles at the University of Leeds. They had two sons, neither of whom followed a medical career. Norman Addison was a forceful personality who tended to push forward to take the lead, and many found him overwhelming, but he was an excellent and energetic organiser and his close friends found him an amiable companion with a sense of humour. He died on 8 July 2003.