“Kua hinga te totara i te wao nui a Tane – A mighty totara has fallen in the forest of Tane” aptly describes the sudden and unexpected death of JJ de Geus some months ago. John de Geus was a great teacher, colleague and friend to many. A well-loved surgeon, colleague, employer, friend and family man

Michael Timmons was a highly-respected plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital, Bradford. His special interests were cleft lip and palate surgery, and surgeries on other complex congenital problems, such as hypospadias. He was born on 17 February 1949

Robert Acland was a pioneer of plastic and reconstructive microsurgery. He was born in Exeter on 20 June 1941, the younger son of Sir Richard Dyke Acland, 15th baronet of Colum John, a barrister and Labour politician, and Anne Stella Acland née Alford. Acland grew up in the dower house at Killerton,

Jack Burke will be remembered for successfully developing the first commercially reproducible, synthetic human skin. He was born on 22 July 1922 in Chicago, where he grew up. He started studying engineering at the University of Illinois, but left after Pearl Harbor and joined the Army. At the end of

Michael David Brough was a consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born on 4 July 1942 in London, where his father, Kenneth David Brough, was chairman of Metal Box Overseas Ltd. His mother was Frances Elizabeth née Davies, the daughter of Walter Ernest Llewellyn Davies,

David Crockett contributed greatly to the specialty of plastic surgery in the Sudan and then in Bradford as a consultant surgeon from 1964 until he retired in 1987. A very gifted man, he enjoyed many hobbies during his very busy professional life and was above all a family man. He was born in North

Ian Fraser Muir was a consultant plastic surgeon for the Grampian Health Board and a senior lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. He was born on 26 August 1921 in West Hartlepool, the son of John Kerr Muir and Margaret McKenzie Muir née Duke. He came from a medical family: his father was a general

John Watson was a consultant plastic surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. He was born in Blundellsands, Merseyside, on 10 September 1914. His father, John Watson, a lawyer, died when he was 18 months old. His mother, Annabel Windsor Watson née Thorp, the daughter of a Quaker physician

John Jeffs was a consultant plastic surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital, London. He was born in Tredegar, Gwent, where his father, Victor Henry Jeffs, was the local butcher. His mother was Ivy Elizabeth Jeffs née Lewis. He went to Lewis School in Pengam. His medical training was at Guy's Hospital, whe

Martin Kelly was a craniofacial plastic surgeon at the Chelsea and Westminster, and Royal Marsden hospitals. An extraordinarily talented surgeon, he died of a heart attack at the young age of 43, stunning his colleagues. He was born Martin Hirigoyen in London on 7 May 1965, the son of Bernard Hirig

John Frederick North (known as 'JFN') was a consultant plastic surgeon in the west Midlands. He was born in Southport, Lancashire, on 12 May 1917, the only child of John William Allen North, a solicitor, and Frances Jane North née Allen. He went to school at Cheltenham College, and studied medicine

Michael Arthur Senior was a consultant plastic surgeon at the Canniesburn unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He began his career as a dentist; he qualified BDS in Leeds in 1984, spent four years in Bradford as a dentist, and worked in the oral surgery department at Bradford Hospital. He then decided to