John Patrick Richardson was born on 18 July 1928 at Port Pirie, South Australia. He was educated at the Christian Brothers' College in Adelaide from which he gained a Commonwealth Government Scholarship to study medicine at the University of Adelaide. He qualified in 1952 and after two years during

John Borrie was born and bred in Otago. In his formative years he excelled academically as well as on the sports field representing his college at cross-country running. He elected to follow in his father's footsteps and went on to Otago University to study medicine, graduating in 1938. During his t

Ahmed Abdel Aziz Yacoub, widely known as Ahmed Abdel Aziz, was a pioneering Sudanese cardiothoracic surgeon. A charismatic leader and gifted teacher, he was a staunch advocate of training in surgery in the Sudan. He was born in Gubbat Salim, Abri, in northern Sudan on 12 January 1931. His father was

Ian Hill was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He was born on 8 June 1919. When he was only five he developed diphtheria and was admitted to an isolation hospital for many weeks. There he was allowed no visits from his family and witnessed at close quarters th

William Williams was a consultant surgeon in Coventry. He was born in Newport, Gwent, on 11 May 1928. His father, William George, was an engine driver. His mother was Lillian Hyacinth Maud née Jones, a farmer's daughter. He was educated at Newport High School and Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge, go

George Douglas Robb was born in Auckland on 29 April 1899 and educated at Auckland Grammar School, and Auckland University College and Otago University, graduating BSc and MB ChB in 1922. The following year he went to England and worked for his Fellowship in the company of three other pioneer thorac

Alphonsus d'Abreu, 'Pon' to his many friends, was the younger son of a Birmingham general practitioner and was born on 5 April 1906. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and at Birmingham University. Following graduation in 1930 and resident and registrar appointments in Birmingham he became a lect

Lance Bromley was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at St Mary's Hospital, London. He was born on 16 February 1920 to Lancelot Bromley, a surgeon at Guy's Hospital, and Dora Ridgway Bromley née Lee of Dewsbury, Yorkshire. Educated at St Paul's School, Lance Bromley obtained his 1st MB examination

Gerald Keen was a cardiothoracic surgeon at Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Frenchay Hospital from 1964 until 1991. His most enduring achievements were the introduction of cardiopulmonary bypass to Bristol in 1965 and the enlargement of the facilities for open-h

Tony Dyde was a cardiothoracic surgeon at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry. He was born in Plymouth on 30 May 1935, the son of John Horsfall Dyde, chairman of the Eastern Gas Board, and Ethel May Hewitt, and was educated at Rugby, where he excelled at cricket, hockey and rugby football. He then went up

Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes was one of New Zealand's foremost cardiac surgeons. He was born on 13 January 1924, the son of Gerald Cave Boyes and Edna Myrtle, née Barratt. After qualifying, he was a lecturer in anatomy at Otago, and then house surgeon and registrar at Wellington Hospital. He was subseque

Thomas Holmes Sellors, the only son of Dr Thomas Blanchard Sellors, a general practitioner and of Anne Oliver Sellors (née McSparron) was born on 7 April 1902, at Wandsworth. A few years later his father moved his practice to Southend-on-Sea and Tom, as he was always known, went to Alleyn Court Prep