Laurence Levy was a pioneering neurosurgeon in Zimbabwe. He was born on 16 November 1921 in London, the son of Hyman Levy, professor of mathematics at Imperial College, and Marion Aitken née Levy, the daughter of a schoolmaster. He was educated at King's School, Wimbledon, and, when his family moved

Sydney Green was a neurosurgeon based in Washington DC and Bethesda. He was born in Glasgow on 10 June 1915 and lived in a one bedroom apartment with his parents and four older siblings, Lionel, Fagah, Mae and Lillah. He often spoke lovingly about his parents Hymen Harry and Sarah Sayetta Green, and

John Hankinson, known as ‘Hank’, was a consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, and professor of neurosurgery at the University of Newcastle. He was born in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, on 10 March 1919, the son of Daniel Hankinson, a company director, and Anne née Ka

Andrew Talalla, a neurosurgeon, was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 29 November 1924. His father, Hewage Benjamin Talalla, was an industrialist who married Lily Olga Fernando. There were two older brothers, both of whom served in the RAF in the second world war, the elder being killed flying a Ty

Bernard Harries was a consultant neurosurgeon at University College Hospital (UCH) and the Whittington Hospital, London. He was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, on 30 April 1916, the son of Eric Henry Rhys Harries, an infectious diseases physician, and his wife, Edith Irene née Brazel. His grandfathe

Allan Hulme was chief of neurosurgery at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol. He was born in June 1917 in Seaton Carew, but spent his childhood in Stockport, Lancashire. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, where he was in receipt of a scholarship. In 1935, he won an exhibition to St John’s College,

Ayub Khan Ommaya was an internationally-known expert on brain injury and the inventor of the Ommaya reservoir, which is used to administer chemotherapy to the site of brain tumours. He was born in Mian Chanuu, in what was then British India, on 14 April 1930, the youngest son of Nadir Khan, of the B

Eric Newton was a consultant neurosurgeon at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary. He was born in Surrey in 1919, but was educated in northern India. He gained an Indian Army scholarship to study medicine at Madras Medical School and qualified in 1942, during the Second World War. He immediately beca

Born 18 December 1910, son of Edwin Albert Eden, MA, BSc, Head Master of Devizes Secondary School, who died at Letchworth in 1938, and of Monti Alston Christie, his wife. He was educated at his father's school and at University College, London, before entering University College Hospital Medical Sch

Born in Cleveland, Ohio on 8 April 1869, the youngest of the nine children of Henry Kirke Cushing (1827-1910), MD, LLD, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Western Reserve Medical School, and Betsey Wilkinson, his wife. His grandfather and great-grandfather had both been members of the medica

John Andrew, also known as 'Tony', was born on 2 February 1922 in Poulton-le-Flyde, Lancashire. He was the son of Percy Andrew, a general practitioner, and Ida Louise née Rishworth, a first-generation American, whom his father had met as a nurse in France during the first world war. His grandfather

Born on 6 May 1884 in Nevada City, he graduated in science and medicine from the University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco. He studied at Johns Hopkins during Harvey Cushing's last year there, 1913, and during the first world war went on active service in Europe. He returned to San Francisco