George Northcroft was born on 17 June 1911 in Harley Street, London, at the house of his father, a well-known orthodontist. His medical education was at St John's College, Cambridge, and the London Hospital, where he qualified in 1937. He began his career in neurosurgery with an appointment at th

Peter Gortvai, the only son of William, an obstetric surgeon and his wife Elizabeth, née Foldi, LDSRCS, was born on 1 December 1927. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he completed his Natural Sciences Tripos in 1951 and won the Tripos prize. He then went to the London Hospital from 1951

When, on the 23rd of February 2020, James Thomas “Jim” Cummins died, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne lost a good and faithful servant. Jim was born in 1934 in Warrnambool. His mother, Anne, was the homemaker and his father, James, was a secondary school teacher. He had 3 siblings, Isobel, Mary and J

Andrew Tallala, a neurosurgeon, was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 29 November 1924. His father, Hewage Benjamin Tallala, was an industrialist who married Lily Olga Fernando. There were two older brothers, both of whom served in the RAF in the second world war, the elder being killed flying a Ty

John Segelov was born in Maitland, New South Wales, in 1929 and was educated at Newcastle High School. His medical training was at Sydney University from which he graduated MB BS in 1952, and his experience as resident medical officer at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital aroused his interest in neuro

John Allwood McHardy was a neurosurgeon and chief medical officer of health in Jamaica. Known as Johnny to his family and friends, he was born in Jamaica, in Montego Bay, St James on 24 August 1926, the only son of Nathan Ralph McHardy, an assistant commissioner of lands, and Melaine Estelle McHardy

Keith was born in Melbourne October 2, 1925 and died in Birmingham, Alabama on August 28, 2015. He was a man of enormous zest for life with a wide range of interests and friends that he maintained until the end which came rather suddenly when an infection supervened on top of a long battle with c

Ramanand Kalbag (known as ‘Ram’) was the first Indian-born consultant in neurosurgery when he was appointed to the department of neurosurgery in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1964. Ram, the elder son of Mangesh and Uma Kalbag, was born on 6 March 1926 at his maternal grandparents’ home in Karwar, a town on

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

Matthew Crocker was a consultant neurosurgeon at the Atkinson Morley department of neurosurgery, St George’s Hospital, London. He was born on 6 August 1976 to Elizabeth Crocker née Norton and Simon Crocker. Simon was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Norwich, where Matthew and his siste

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

Born on 5 October 1929, Ian Campbell Bailey came from an eminent Dublin family. He was the eldest son of James Rowland Bailey, a company director, and his wife Hilda Maud née Campbell, the daughter of Ottwell Campbell, a civil servant. Educated initially at Rathgar Boy’s Preparatory School, he then