John Romano was born on 24 May 1926 into a Jewish-Italian family in Cairo, where he was educated and subsequently qualified in medicine. His father Albert Romano was a barrister and his mother was Marie Afif. In Cairo he became fluent in English, French, Italian and Arabic, skills that he later used

John Henry Morad Romano was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Hillingdon. He was born in Egypt on 24 May 1926, the only child of Albert Romano, a solicitor in Cairo. His primary education was at École de Zamalek and from the age of 11 years at the Lycée Français in Cairo. He completed his Baccalaur