Samuel Joseph Cohen, known as 'Joe', was a paediatric surgeon in Manchester. He was born on 22 July 1923 in Germiston, a gold mining town near Johannesburg, South Africa. He was the youngest of three children of Berel Nathan Cohen and Feiga Cohen, a nurse, who emigrated to South Africa from Lithuania. He attended Germiston High School, where he excelled in sport, particularly athletics and golf, and also sang in operatic performances. His talent in these areas developed further during his time at university, where his fine tenor voice was constantly in demand by the university operatic society and his prowess at golf meant that he was regarded as one of the finest South African university golfers of his time. He received his undergraduate medical training at Witwaterstrand University Medical School, from which he qualified MB BCh in 1947. Following qualification, he undertook house officer posts in the Johannesburg teaching hospitals. His time as house physician on the fever unit coincided with an outbreak of poliomyelitis, resulting in the admission of 150 cases in one month. It was following this experience that he decided to direct his future career towards the treatment of children. Another life changing decision occurred at this time when he met Isobel (née Williams), a nurse, who was to become his wife of 55 years. Overall he spent five years training as a house officer, registrar and senior casualty officer in the Johannesburg hospitals. In 1952 he moved to Britain for postgraduate training, initially gaining the MRCP (Edinburgh) later that year, however, his real aim was to train in surgery and he moved to London, commencing surgical training with Norman Tanner and, in 1954, as house surgeon to Sir Denis Browne at Great Ormond Street Hospital. His London training was linked with Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, where he gained general and urological paediatric surgical training with Isabella Forshall, Peter Paul Rickham and Herbert Johnson. On returning to Great Ormond Street, he was appointed as a resident assistant surgeon to, amongst others, Andrew Wilkinson and Sir David Innes Williams, the latter being instrumental in founding the sub-specialty of paediatric urology. In 1963 he moved from London to take a post as the second consultant paediatric surgeon in the Manchester region, working alongside Ambrose Jolleys, with appointments to all three of that city's children's hospitals, at Booth Hall, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Pendlebury and the Duchess of York Children's Hospital and, later on, at the neonatal unit at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester. By the time he retired there were four paediatric surgeons in the Manchester region. It was in the 1960s, in the course of creating a world-renowned paediatric urology service, that he developed the operation to prevent vesico-ureteric reflux that subsequently became associated with his name. The operation, which involved a cross trigonal tunnel technique, was hailed as being successful in around 98% of cases and became generally accepted by urologists worldwide as the best technique. Publications in the international literature confirmed his status as the leading authority on the surgical management of vesico-ureteric reflux in children. He was passionate about teaching and pioneered video televised courses for the training of surgeons in operative paediatric urology in Manchester and Varese in Italy. So successful were these video presentations that he was awarded the Golden Eagle award by the Council on International Nontheatrical Events for the most outstanding teaching film made by a non-commercial film company. He was well known and highly respected not only in Manchester and the United Kingdom, but also at an international level. He was the first South African-born president of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons. In 2009 the British Association of Paediatric Urologists nominated both him and Sir David Innes Williams as honorary members. He was also a lifelong member of the Society of Paediatric Urological Surgeons, a small group of paediatric urologists founded by Sir David Innes Williams, who met annually to present and discuss each other's research and papers. He was an honorary member of many international urological societies and in 1996 was awarded a medal by the European Society for Paediatric Urology. His reputation led to appointments as visiting professor at Beilinson Hospital, Tel Aviv, the University of Michigan, USA, and Bogota University Medical School, Colombia. He also worked in Kuwait for some time. He was a member of the council of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1987 to 1988. His paediatric surgical colleagues in Manchester recall that children were very fond of him. At one time a child drew a picture of him holding a briefcase on which the letters 'J C' were imprinted. The child had written underneath 'Jesus Christ'. The respect in which he was held was also demonstrated by a thriving private practice. Although of amicable personality, Joe was not afraid to challenge authority when necessary. He once upset a senior Manchester rabbi by pointing out that children with clotting disorders could die after circumcision. Throughout his career in Manchester and following retirement, he was a strong supporter of the section of surgery of the Manchester Medical Society. When he retired, initially his only interest was salmon and trout fishing, a pastime he had pursued enthusiastically throughout his professional life, however, a new opportunity to exercise his talents arose as a result of his knowledge and interest in antiques and silver. He became honorary curator of silver and clocks at the Royal College of Surgeons and in 1998 was invited to give the Vicary lecture on this subject entitled 'Silver and the surgeon'. Joe will be remembered not only for his major contributions to the development of paediatric urology, but also for his gregarious, cheerful and vivacious spirit. He died on 17 April 2012, aged 88 and was survived by three sons, Anthony, Peter and Nicholas (a consultant urological surgeon), and five grandchildren.