Hussein Ahmed Hussein was born in Berber, Sudan, on 14 November 1904, the son of Ahmed Hussein, an army officer. His early education was at Gordon College and he then entered the Kitchener School of Medicine qualifying in 1931, having obtained a surgical prize. After early appointments he came to En

Ogilvie Duthie, the eldest son of the director of education at Salford, was born on 19 September 1899, in Manchester. After education at Manchester Grammar School he enlisted in the Navy in 1916, at the age of 17, as a Sub-Lieutenant. Entering Manchester University after the war he qualified in 1921

William Stewart Duke-Elder was born on 22 April 1898 at Tealing, near Dundee, the son of a Scottish minister. Before proceeding to St Andrew's University as a foundation scholar in 1915 he had been a brilliant pupil at school and was invariably top of the class. He graduated MA in 1919 with first cl

Allen John Bridson Goldsmith was born on 27 November 1909, the son of an Edinburgh MD. He was educated at King William's College, Isle of Man, and the Middlesex Hospital. He qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1931 and took the MB BS with distinction in medicine and pathology. He held posts at th

George William Black was born in Boston, Lincolnshire on 21 January 1903 and was educated at Boston Grammar School and at the Middlesex Hospital, qualifying in 1926. During his early years in London he became very conscious of the divisions in English life, joining the Fabian Society and becoming a

Joseph John ('Joe') O'Sullivan was an ophthalmologist in Victoria, Australia. He was born in Sydney on 28 July 1927 and was educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, Sydney. He served in the Army between 1946 and 1948, repatriating some prisoners, and then went on to the University of Sydney to

Iris Kane was born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, on 22 November 1923, the only daughter of Michael Harry Kirkpatrick Kane, MRCP, and Winifred Alma Roworh, who was also a qualified doctor. She was educated until the age of eleven at the Roedean School, Johannesburg, at which she gained a scholarshi

Isidore Spiro served in two world wars. In the first world war he served as an ordinary infantryman in France. He was prevented from sitting the Final FRCS examination in 1939 because he had been called up, and when he eventually obtained leave from the British Expeditionary Force in order to sit he

Dudley Plunket Gurd was born in Belfast on 18 June 1910 the elder son of Frederick Gurd, a pharmaceutical chemist, and Annie Jane (née Glenn), and was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and Queen's University, Belfast, qualifying in 1932. After early house appointments in Belfast, Liverpool and Londo

Brian Harcourt was born on 3 March 1934, the son of John Ellison Harcourt, a scientific instrument manufacturer in Liverpool and Bertha Florence Kneen. His grandfather, Richard Eugene Harcourt FRCS (1858-1921), was an ophthalmic surgeon, also in Liverpool. Harcourt was educated at Quarry Bank High S

John Peregrine Francis Lloyd was born in Birmingham on 24 August 1907, the son of John Lloyd, managing director of Albright and Wilson, and Florence, née Armstrong. He was educated at West House School, Edgbaston, and Trent College, Derbyshire, before entering the University of Birmingham for medica

Mark Treisman, the son of Wolfe Treisman, an outfitter, and of Esther (née Davis) was born in London on 10 May 1898. His paternal grandparents and several generations of his family were farmers in Lithuania until Jews were forbidden to own land there. He later changed his name to Tree and states tha