Norman Shenstone was born at Brantford, Ontario, on 18 April 1881, the second son and second child of Joseph Newton Shenstone, a manufacturer of farm machinery, and Eliza Hara, his wife. His primary education was in local schools of Brantford and Toronto, to which his family moved during his early b

George Alexander Mason was born in 1901 and graduated from Newcastle-upon-Tyne University in 1922 and spent the whole of his professional life in that city. Although in every sense a general surgeon he soon became interested in thoracic surgery and devoted most of his surgical career to that special

Donald Barlow was born on 4 July 1905 in Leytonstone, son of Leonard Barlow, an electrical engineer, and Katherine Monteagle. His eldest brother Leonard was killed at the age of 18 after winning the MC with two bars in the Royal Flying Corps; the second became FRS and a professor at University Colle

Charles James Officer Brown was born in Melbourne on 24 September 1897, the third child of David Brown and Jamima (née Officer) whose grandfather, Sir Robert Officer, had emigrated as a ship's surgeon to Van Diemen's Land. He attended the Scotch College in Melbourne and proceeded to the Melbourne Un

C S Patel was born on 13 October 1905 at rural Palana, went to school there, and afterwards at Baroda and Poona. His medical education was at the Grant Medical College and the JJ group of hospitals in Bombay. He had a brilliant career as a student obtaining 13 prizes, medals and scholarships; he qua

Noel Adeney, known as 'Jeff', was born in Cairo on 26 November 1897. His father, Frederick Field Adeney, was a priest, his mother was Rosalie, neé Savage. He was educated at Monkton Combe School and then St John's College, Cambridge, on an open classical scholarship. He served in the first world war

Ralph Beverly Lynn, known as ‘Bev’, was born on 24 August 1921 in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada. Having initially attended a local school, he moved to one in Midland, Ontario. He studied medicine at Queen’s University Medical School in Kingston, graduating top of his year in 1945. After house job

Hisham Hassan El-Khidir was a consultant surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. 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

Emerich Polak received his medical training in Prague and qualified in 1925. He continued his surgical training under Professor Rudolf Jedlicka and his first contact with English surgery was in 1926 when the Moynihan Travelling Club visited Prague. For forty years he directed an important surgical d

Brian Pickering studied medicine at Guy's Hospital where he qualified in 1956. After junior surgical posts he specialised in cardiothoracic surgery, doing the rotation between the Middlesex, Hammersmith and Harefield Hospitals and the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street. He was appointed

Jacob Zimmerman qualified from St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1943. He was a foundation member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Science and an Hunterian Professor of our College in 1966. He was an assistant Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the New York Medica

Born at Godalming on 8 November 1889, the elder son of the Rev William Francis Romanis, Preacher of the Charterhouse, and Annie Ellen Cowie, he was educated at Charterhouse where he was a scholar and became head of the school. Going up to Trinity College, Cambridge as a mathematical scholar he obtai