Lord Smith was one of our great presidents. Successive holders of that office have faced many and various challenges, but by any measure the confrontation between the Labour government and the BMA from 1974 to 1975 was a major crisis that threatened the future of consultant practice. Rodney Smith, a

Arnold Gourevitch was a consultant surgeon in Birmingham. He was born in Paris on 24 February 1914, the son of Russian Jewish émigrés. At the outbreak of the first world war his parents fled to England, eventually settling in Birmingham. His father, Mendel, later qualified as a doctor and became a g

Patrick Sames was a general surgeon in Bath with an interest in coloproctology. He was born on 17 January 1912 in Enfield, Middlesex, the only son of Christopher, a railway clerk, and Caroline née Radmore. He was a late entrant to medicine, leaving Harrow County School to become an apprentice in the

Ernest Edward Dunlop, widely known as 'Weary', was a quite exceptional man whose stamina, sheer tenacity and bravery whilst a prisoner of war in the Far East gave him a unique position in Australia and in the College. He must be one of the few surgeons whose likeness was printed on an Australian sta

George Oliver Jelly was born on 26 April 1909 in Bury, Lancashire, the son of George Aubrey Jelly, an ophthalmologist, and Kathleen Mary Olive, the daughter of a papermaker. He was educated at Rugby, and read greats at Magdalen College, Oxford, but fell ill just before finals and took up medicine in

Denis Astley Sanford was a senior general surgeon in Sunderland. He qualified MB BS in 1936 and, after a house physician post at University College Hospital, London, became a resident surgical officer at the Royal Infirmary, Sunderland. He served as a wing commander in the RAF and then, after the S

Mohamed Fatin was born on 3 September 1906. He gained his FRCS in 1939. His last known address was in Cairo, Egypt.

Brian Wilberforce Smith was born on 5 September 1910, went to Mill Hill School and then to Guy's Hospital where he qualified in 1933, proceeding to MB BS in 1935 and FRCS in 1939. His house appointments were at the Cancer Hospital in London and the Royal Infirmary Sheffield. Soon after the outbreak

Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Arnold Rose graduated MB BCh BAO Dublin in 1930. He gained his Fellowship in 1939, having earlier obtained the Diploma in Laryngology and Otology. After service as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the RAMC during the second world war, he spent much of the remainder of

Edward George Tuckwell, the third of eight children and the eldest son of Edward Henry Tuckwell, a stockbroker, and of Annie Clarice (née Sansom), was born on May 12, 1910, at Godalming, Surrey. He was educated at Hillside School, Godalming; Charterhouse School, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He then

Nathaniel Allan Miller, the elder of twins, was the son of Thomas Henry Miller, a medically qualified dental surgeon, and of Janet Allan Miller (née Cook), the daughter of Alexander Cook, MD, FRCS Ed. His twin brother, Alec, became a consultant physician. Nathaniel was born at Preston, Lancashire, o

Ernest Harold Carr Harper was a consultant surgeon at West Kent Hospital, Maidstone. He was born in Surrey in 1908, where his father Harry was managing director of a shipping company. His mother was Constance née Carr. He was educated at Hurstpierpoint School, before going to St Thomas's to study me