Robin Azariah was born in India, the grandson of the first Bishop of the United Church of South India. He received his medical training at the Christian Medical College at Vellore where he graduated in 1955 but he travelled to England for much of his surgical training. His main interests were in orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery. In 1966 he was appointed resident surgeon at Te Kuiti Hospital in New Zealand. He developed a great reputation for his skill in joint replacement and his compassionate nature caused him to develop methods for the relief of pain and it was to the study of chronic pain management that he devoted so much of his boundless energy in recent years. He developed a group therapy team with his wife and the psychologist Pierre Beautrais, teaching patients meditation, relaxation, visualisation and bio-feedback techniques and he became editor of the New Zealand Pain Society newsletter. He was an enthusiastic tennis player. He died on 16 April 1990 aged 58, survived by his wife, Margaret, daughters Sunita and Suzy and stepsons Carne and Alistair.