John Zamet was a champion of periodontology in the UK. He founded the first exclusively periodontal practice in London in 1966 where he continued to work until his retirement in 2001. He was the first UK periodontist to participate in the Bränemark Osseointegration Programme. He was a gifted lecturer and a charismatic and kind teacher. His wise and confidential counsel was often sought by aspiring specialists and many who were already in senior positions. Always willing to help an individual or worthy cause, his smiling and apparently relaxed manner belied a burning passion for perfection that governed every aspect of his activities. Many a colleague has reason to be grateful to him. Born in London in 1932, John qualified in dentistry at the Royal Dental Hospital in 1955 and obtained his fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1958. Between 1956 and 1962 he worked in the periodontology departments at the Eastman, Guy’s and the Royal Dental Hospital, following which he obtained a postgraduate Fellowship to the University of Philadelphia. On return to London he became Senior Lecturer at the Royal Dental Hospital and then Consultant in Periodontology at University College Hospital Dental School. He obtained his MPhil investigating the clinical outcomes of surgical periodontal therapy in 1974. Following the closure of UCH Dental School he was appointed Honorary Consultant in the Department of Periodontology at the Eastman in 1995, remaining there until he retired. John was determined that periodontology should be recognised as a specialty in the UK and initiated the process, through the British Society of Periodontology, that eventually established the specialist list. John was both the first and twenty-fifth Chairman of the London Chapter of the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity and served as Secretary of its London Charitable Trust. He approached Ambassador Walter Annenberg to fund the Annenberg Lecture and Travelling Scholarship which sponsored the postgraduate education of three students and endowed the Annenberg Lecture for years to come. John retired reluctantly from active dentistry in 2001. Always seeking a challenge he went on to complete an MA at UCL in Holocaust Studies and in 2007 was awarded his PhD from Oxford Brookes for a thesis on ‘German and Austrian Refugee Dentists 1933-1939, The Response of The British Authorities.’ He is survived by his wife Susan, son Richard, daughter Kate and one grandson.