Laurie Lassman was born in London on 21 June 1913, the son of Henry Lassman, an electrical engineer, and Julia, née Abrahams, a Hebrew bookbinder. He was educated at Raine's School and went on to the London Hospital Medical College to study medicine, qualifying with the conjoint diploma in 1937 and taking the London MB in the following year. He joined the RAMC at the outbreak of war, served mainly in Europe, and was mentioned in despatches. After the war he became a surgical registrar at the Middlesex Hospital, where he was influenced by Sir Thomas Holmes Sellors and T G I James. He trained in neurosurgery and was appointed consultant in neurosurgery at the Newcastle General Hospital and the Royal Victoria Infirmary. He became a President of the North of England Neurological Association and was a member of the Council of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons. He married Myra, née Tournoff, in 1939 and they had one son, Jonathan, who did not enter medicine. Laurie was a keen collector of stamps and coins. He died of pneumonia on 11 September 1994, survived by his wife, son and two grandsons.