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

Reginald Harry (Dick) Shephard was consultant neurosurgeon to the Derby Royal Infirmary. Born in 1918 he was one of 10 children and spent much of his younger days helping out on the family farm in Hampshire. Enrolling at University College London with a scholarship, he won a Rockefeller scholarship

John Gillingham was professor of neurosurgery at the University of Edinburgh. He was born in Dorchester, Dorset, on 15 March 1916, the son of John Herbert Gillingham, a businessman, and Lily Gillingham née Eavis. He was educated at the Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester, and then studied medicine at

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

Christopher Thomas Blaiklock was a consultant neurosurgeon at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He was born on 27 July 1936 in Newcastle upon Tyne and raised in Northumbria. His parents, Thomas Snowdon Blaiklock and Constance Rebecca Blaiklock, were both doctors. He attended Oundle School, Northampton, and

Rashid Choudhury was a consultant neurosurgeon at the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital, Saudi Arabia. He was born in a remote village in the district of Hailakandi, Assam, India, the son of Imran Ali Choudhury and Sumsun Choudhury. He came from a humble background and had to work hard to become a surgeo

Julian Lawrence Robinson qualified in medicine from Cambridge University in 1962 and gained his MS from Toronto. He passed the FRCS in 1967. He was a neurosurgeon on the staff of the Hôtel Dieu de Quebec, St Sacrament and Hôtel Dieu du Levis and a member of the teaching staff of Laval University.

Axel Herbert Olivecrona was a Swedish neurosurgeon of international standing who was made an Honorary Fellow at the meeting of the International Federation of Surgical Colleges in Sweden on 4 July 1958. He was Professor at the Royal Karolinska Medico-Surgical Institute in Stockholm and he died in 19

Leslie Claremont Oliver was born on 5 February 1909, the son of an engineer. He was educated at Latymer School and Guy's Hospital, London, qualifying in 1933 and proceeding immediately to FRCS in 1935, gaining general surgical experience as registrar, Bristol General Hospital, and as resident assist

Bernard Crymble was born on 6 May 1928, and after early education was admitted to the University of Durham Medical School, qualifying in 1951. After house appointments at the Royal Victoria Infirmary he joined the RAMC for National Service. After demobilisation he returned to Newcastle as demonstrat

Arthur Wall was born on 10 April 1917 in Hulme, Manchester, the son of Arthur Wall, a pharmacist, and Bertha Elizabeth Pack. He was educated at Old Trafford High School and received his medical education at the University of Manchester Medical School. In his preclinical years he was awarded the Tom

Gopal Baratham was a consultant neurosurgeon in Singapore. He was born on 9 September 1935, into a Tamil Brahmin family, originally from southern India, who had moved to Malaya. His father was Dr Baratham Ramaswamy Sreenivasan, one of the founders of the Singapore Medical Association, and the first