Rudolph Blach was dean of the Institute of Ophthalmology, London, and a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He was the son of Hedwig Jeanette Blach, a nurse companion. She was originally from Germany, but became a British citizen in 1948, at the same time as her son. Blach stud

Fisher received his medical education at the Westminster Hospital Medical School and qualified both with the London MB BS and the conjoint diploma in 1952. Deciding to specialise in ophthalmology after qualifying, he held junior appointments at the Westminster Hospital and at Moorfields. He won the

Barrie Samuel Jay was professor of clinical ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University of London. He was born in London on 7 May 1929, the son of Maurice Bernard Jay, a medical practitioner, and Julia Sterling Jay, a housewife. He attended Perse School and then Gonville and Caius Co

As the son of a surgeon, Charles Langley Owen, and the great-nephew of an eminent ophthalmologist, David Charles Lloyd Owen, it was not surprising that Robin Owen took up eye surgery as a career, becoming a consultant ophthalmic surgeon in south London. His mother was Robina Elizabeth Owen née Sincl

Philip Starr, known as ‘Jimmie’, was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born in Birmingham in 1933. After qualifying, he spent four years in Canada and then in Australia, studying ophthalmology at the Sydney Eye Hospital. He subsequently returned to England, w