Alan Raynor Kirby was a neurosurgeon at the Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was born in Gosforth, Northumberland on 2 April 1924, the son of Alger Raynor Kirby, a manufacturer’s agent, and Phyllis Barbara Kirby née Hodgkin. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School,

‘You can teach a monkey to operate, but you can’t teach a monkey when not to operate.’ Many, especially on the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies’ training courses, will remember John Garfield’s pithy one-liners. That was the epitome of John – serious, but everything had to be fun and w

John Keith Henderson, universally known as Keith was born and raised in Perth WA. In 1940 he came east to study medicine at the University of Melbourne. He graduated the end of 1945 and started as a resident medical officer at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, spending two years as Frank Morgan's reg

Peter Wilson was a meticulous neurosurgeon at Swansea who was committed to the highest standards of clinical care and fostered the same work ethic in his colleagues. He was born in Portsmouth on 8 April in 1933, the elder son of Herbert Wilson and Kathleen Wilson née Humphries. His father was an

Lindsay Symon was a professor of neurological surgery at the Institute of Neurology, London University and the National Hospital, Queen Square who made important contributions to neurosurgical management, technique and training, and major advances in cerebrovascular pathophysiology. He was born

John Miles was a professor of neurosurgery at the Walton Centre, Liverpool. He was born in Mountain Ash, a mining village in south Wales, on 30 May 1936, one of five children of Benjamin Miles and Helena Miles née Owen. His father, a miner and a socialist, was blacklisted by mine owners and unemploy

Eric Anderson Turner was a neurosurgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. He was born on 8 January 1917 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. His father, John Anderson, was a teacher; his mother, Margaret Anderson née Galt, was the daughter of a building contractor. He attended St John’s Gr

Professor Jacquez Charl ‘Kay’ De Villiers was head of the department of neurosurgery at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk

Anthony Booth, neurosurgeon, was born in Liverpool on 20 April 1934, the son of Edmund Booth, a company director, and Henrietta, a teacher. He was educated at Gordonstoun School and King's College, Cambridge, completing his medical studies at University College Hospital, London. His training in n

Thomas Tyrell King (known as Tom or TT) was born on 28 March 1930 in London, while his father was working in the UK. His mother, Nina Mary née Keynes, was a nurse whose father qualified in Cork, Ireland and then migrated to Australia, becoming a general practitioner in Nathalie, Northern Victoria. H

Stevens Dimant was a neurosurgeon in Washington, USA. He was born on 2 January 1919 in Christchurch, Hampshire, England the son of Cyril Ivan Dimant, an architect who had served as a captain in the 2nd Australian Pioneer Battalion during the First World War and had been awarded a Military Cross, and

Donald Simpson was born 91 years ago into a Unitarian family with a strong tradition of learning and service. He grew up in Burnside in the Adelaide foothills and travelled to school at St Peters College by pony or bike. He lived and died close to his original family home. His academic record was