André Nevelsteen was head of vascular surgery at the University Hospital of Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium. He was born in Geel on 8 August 1951. He studied medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven, graduating in 1975. He went on to train in general surgery and then specialised in vascular surg

Geoffrey Evans was an associate professor of surgery at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was born on 25 January 1935 in Mountain Ash, Glamorgan, Wales, the son of William Garfield Evans, a schoolmaster, and Hannah Evans née James. He attended Mountain Ash Grammar School and then st

Geoffrey Gilling-Smith was a consultant vascular surgeon at Royal Liverpool Hospital. He was born on 15 November 1955 at St George's Hospital, London, the son of Dryden Gilling-Smith, a businessman. His mother, who was head of the physics and chemistry department at the French Lycée in South Kensing

Martin Birnstingl was a consultant vascular surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and was widely respected for his expertise and for his clear and concise teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students. He was also a consultant surgeon to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and serv

Christopher Savage was a consultant vascular surgeon at Leamington and Warwick Hospital. He was born in Kingston on Thames on 31 August 1915. His father, Arthur Livingstone Savage, was an architect, and his mother was the artist Agnes Kate Richardson. He was educated at Gate House School, Kingston,

Vettivetpillai Ketharanathan or ‘Nathan’ was a senior research associate at the vascular surgery unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia. He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, on 25 November 1935 to Appiah Ketharanathan and Rukmani Nama (Sivayam) Ketharanathan, who were both teachers.

Harry Hubert Grayson Eastcott, known as ‘Felix’, was the first man to perform carotid endarterectomy, thereby preventing strokes in countless patients. He was born in Montreal, Canada, on 17 October 1917, the son of Henry George Eastcott, a resident engineer with the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Gl

Chee Voon Soong was a leading vascular surgeon in Belfast and pioneer of endograft placement for ruptured aortic aneurysm. He was born in Ipoh, Malaya, on 7 June 1961, the son of two teachers. He was sent to the Methodist College, Belfast, for his early education, from which he went on to the Queen'

I first met Scotty when I was an intern in the Casualty Department in my first week at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1958. Scotty was the senior surgical registrar. Three of us new graduates had each seen the same patient and managed him poorly. Scotty took us all aside and explained what we shoul

Colin Wilmshurst was a consultant vascular surgeon at Torbay Hospital. He was born in Chislehurst in Kent on 29 October 1932, the oldest of three boys. His father was a Metropolitan Police officer and his mother a teacher. He was educated at a local grammar school near Orpington. After school, he

John J. Bergan was an innovative and pioneering vascular surgeon who helped develop a separate surgical specialty for diseases of the arteries and veins. Born in Tampico, Mexico on 4 April 1927, he was the son of Ernest and Arva Yealy Bergan. His parents managed property in the area and always spoke

Ian Ferguson was head of the vascular unit at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne. He and his two brothers Neil and Russell were born in Longreach in central Queensland to Peter Ferguson and Leuwin Ferguson née Roxburgh. The Ferguson family owned several large farming properties. Ian had been obsessed by