John Currie was head of the neurosurgical department at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. He was born on 1 July 1926 in Darlington, County Durham. His father was a practising physician in Darlington who had trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and served as a doctor in the First World War. John went to the local grammar school in Darlington and won a scholarship to Queen's College, Cambridge. He was a keen athlete and rowed for his college; later he took up marathon running and regularly ran in the London marathon until shortly before his retirement in 1990. John continued his medical studies at St Bartholomew's Hospital. After qualifying, he joined the RAMC. He was posted to Korea and served between 1952 and 1954, reaching the rank of captain. Three weeks after returning from Korea, John married his first wife Paddy, whom he had met when she was working as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital. They had two sons. Iain, his eldest, followed the family tradition and went into medicine, becoming a GP in Cornwall. Paddy sadly died in 1967. After his general surgical training, John decided on a career in neurosurgery, having obtained his FRCS in 1958. Whilst waiting to get into a specific training programme under John O'Connell at Bart's he practised for a short period as a GP in Sussex. John's neurosurgical training with O'Connell at registrar and senior registrar levels gave him a wide experience of intra cranial and spinal surgery. Together with O'Connell, he was involved in many aspects of pioneering neurosurgery, notably with several cases for the successful separation of Siamese twins who were conjoined at the head. John's first consultant post was at Leeds General Hospital between 1969 and 1971. He then joined Campbell Connolly at Bart's on O'Connell's retirement. In 1984, on Campbell Connolly's retirement, John became head of the neurosurgical department and remained there until his own retirement in 1990. John was a keen and popular teacher; he became an examiner for the FRCS and for the MChir, Cambridge University. He played a major role in St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, becoming sub dean. John was a member of the medical section of the Territorial Army from the 1950's until 1990, and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. He received the Territorial Decoration. John became the neurosurgical consultant and visiting professor to the island of Malta. This involved several trips each year to deal with difficult neurosurgical problems, the most complex of which involved transferring the patient to London for surgery by him at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He was also on the staff of the London Clinic and King Edward VII Hospital in London. John was a thoughtful and meticulous surgeon, and readily demonstrated his diagnostic and surgical skills to his trainees. He was always approachable and very supportive of his colleagues and junior staff. His ward rounds involved all members of his department, including consultant colleagues, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and occupational therapists. He recognised the importance of the team approach to solving neurosurgical problems, and welcomed the weekly discussions over tea and biscuits with the whole team. In 1969 John married Ann, they had a daughter, Mary. After John's retirement the family moved to Cornwall. He continued to be a regular visitor and adviser at St Bartholomew's until the last year of his life. He died peacefully on 2 May 2016, just before his 90th birthday.