John Parker was a consultant cardiac surgeon at St George's Hospital, London. He was born in Harrow on 1 February 1938, where his father, Kenneth Kershaw Parker, was a civil servant and a town planner. His mother was Mary Moore. He was brought up in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), where

James Lawrence 'Jim' Monro was a cardiac surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, where he successfully developed the service for infants and children. Jim's medical lineage could hardly have been stronger. He was born in Singapore on 17 November 1939, at the start of the Second World War, the son o

Born in Belfast in 1940, Caves was educated at Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He entered medical school at Queen's University, Belfast, in 1958, graduated in 1964, and began a period of general surgical training in Belfast and Edinburgh. After taking the Edinburgh Fellowship in 1968 he began

Victor Chang was born in Sydney in 1936 and received his medical training at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney. After qualifying in 1960 he came to London to train in cardiothoracic surgery at the Brompton Hospital, spent a year at the Mayo Clinic, and returned to St Vincent's in 1972, where he won an i

Smarn Muntarbhorn, the father of cardiac surgery in Thailand, was the first Thai to become a Fellow of the College. He was born in Surathani, Thailand, on 20 November 1914. His father, Wan Muntarbhorn, was a book-store owner and druggist. His mother was a Miss Chuan. He matriculated from Suan Kularb

Kunhi Nair studied medicine at the Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore and, after qualifying, came to England to specialise in surgery. He did registrar posts at Harefield, and the National Heart Hospital before being appointed senior registrar at Guy's Hospital. He was appointed consultant cardiac

Åke Senning was a pioneering heart surgeon. He was born in Raettvik, Sweden, on 14 September 1915. He studied medicine in Uppsala and Stockholm, qualifying in 1944. In 1948, he joined the innovative cardiovascular surgeon Clarence Crafoord at the Sabbatsberg Hospital, Stockholm, with whom he helped

Graham Venn was a consultant cardiac surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and, for the last decade of his life, at the centre of British cardiac surgery. He was part of all aspects of the discipline, from being passionate about training junior surgeons, to overseeing cardiac surgical

Marvin Sturridge was a consultant thoracic surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital, London. He was born on 12 September 1926 to Frank Sturridge, a doctor, and Helen Sturridge. He was the third son of what was to be a family of seven brothers and a sister, Gloria, who only lived ten days. He and all his si

John Patrick Richardson was born on 18 July 1928 at Port Pirie, South Australia. He was educated at the Christian Brothers' College in Adelaide from which he gained a Commonwealth Government Scholarship to study medicine at the University of Adelaide. He qualified in 1952 and after two years during

Frank Harland Mills was a pioneering Australian heart surgeon. He was born on 20 June 1910 in Armidale, New South Wales, and grew up on the south coast of the state, mostly around Ulladulla. Frank's mother died when he was young, and his father, a local magistrate, had to raise Frank, his brother Ro

Kenneth Bloor was born on 14 May 1926, the son of William and Aida Bloor, of Earlstown, Lancashire. He was educated at Newton-le-Willows Grammar School, from where, with a county scholarship, he went to Manchester University, graduating MB ChB in 1949. He was house surgeon to Professor A M Boyd a