George Reginald Crawshaw was born on 9 July 1916. He studied medicine at Manchester University and qualified MB ChB in 1939. He was OC No 2 (Brit) Mobile Neurosurgical Unit of the RAMC and then became a civilian medical practitioner with the Military Hospital, Colchester. After gaining his FRCS i

Don Bennett was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Sydney Adventist Hospital. He was born on 14 April 1939 in Brisbane, the eldest son of Sir Arnold Lucas Bennett, a barrister, and his first wife Marjory (née Williams), who died when Don and his three siblings were very young. He was then raised

Born in Ceylon in 1949, Sabanathan qualified in 1972 and, after junior posts, came to England in 1977 to specialise in surgery. He was appointed consultant cardiothoracic surgeon to the Bradford Royal Infirmary in 1989, where he developed a number of ingenious new techniques, including a method of c

Gerson Katz was a cardiothoracic surgeon in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was born in Johannesburg and studied medicine at Witwatersrand University. After qualifying he completed junior posts in Durban at King Edward VIII Hospital. He then went to the UK, to specialise in surgery. He was a house

David Stuart Gibson was a cardiothoracic surgeon in Hobart, Tasmania. Born in Hobart on 23 May 1925, he was the second child and only son of Stuart Galloway Gibson, a medical practitioner, and his wife, Leonora née Whitham who was a pianist and music teacher. His paternal grandfather, George Harry G

John Stuart Bailey (or 'JCB') was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon in Leicester. He was born in Jerusalem, Palestine, and spent his early years in Cairo, before being evacuated in 1940 to Durban and on to England. He was educated at Sherborne School, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and St

Leon Abrams was a cardiothoracic surgeon who developed the first variable-rate heart pacemaker. He was born in Leeds, but his family soon moved to Birmingham, where he spent most of his life, apart from a short period of National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. After medical school in Bi

Geoffrey Wooler was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary and a pioneer of open heart surgery. He was born in 1911, the son of a successful Leeds businessman. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School and Giggleswick School, before going up to Cambridge to read law. After two

Ary Blesovsky, commonly known as ‘Bles’, devoted his life to cardiothoracic surgery and was instrumental in bringing this surgery to numerous hospitals around the world. He was born in Pasvalys, Lithuania, the son of Jochiel and Pesi Blesovsky, but the family moved, in 1933, to South Africa. His fat

William Gerald Austen, always known as Jerry, was a giant of American cardiothoracic surgery, a past president of the American College of Surgeons, the author of over 500 peer assessed academic publications and a much-loved friend to all who knew him. He was born in Akron, Ohio, to Bertha Marie

Keith Roberts was a consultant cardiothoracic paediatric surgeon in Birmingham. He was born on 15 February 1923 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, the only child of the Reverend Meredith Danford Roberts, a Congregational minister, and his wife, Caroline Lettie Roberts née Stuart, a teacher born in South Afr

Selwyn Griffin was born at St Helen's, Lancashire, on 3 May 1913. His father, George Harold Barlow Griffin, was a headmaster, and his mother was Ada Ann, née Gerrard. He was educated at St Helen's and Liverpool University, where he was influenced by Sir Robert Kelly and Sir Reginald Watson-Jones. He