Allan Isadore Friedmann was a consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Eye Hospital. He was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on 15 June 1916 to Joseph and Matilda Friedmann. His father was a pharmacist. He was educated locally at Grey College School in Bloemfontein, matriculating with first class

Mary was born in 1911, the elder daughter of Howard and Mary Bodley Savory. Her medical education was at Cambridge and University College Hospital, and her ophthalmic training as SHO and registrar at Royal Eye and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospitals. She held a BMA research scholarship in 1946 and