Charles James Officer Brown was born in Melbourne on 24 September 1897, the third child of David Brown and Jamima (née Officer) whose grandfather, Sir Robert Officer, had emigrated as a ship's surgeon to Van Diemen's Land. He attended the Scotch College in Melbourne and proceeded to the Melbourne Un

Carl Semb was educated at the University of Oslo, graduating as a Doctor of Medicine. Early in his surgical career he decided to specialize in thoracic surgery, and at the Vardhasen Sanatorium established a celebrated service for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, his outstanding contribution

Franz Konrad Saddler Hirschfeld was born on 26 April 1904 in Brisbane, son of Dr Eugen Hirschfeld, a graduate of Strasbourg University, who emigrated to Australia in 1890, to become the first honorary bacteriologist to the Royal Brisbane Hospital and later honorary physician. Konrad was educated at

Alan Wordsworth Fawcett was born on the 18th October, 1896, the son of Edward Fawcett, Professor of Anatomy at Bristol University. He was educated at Clifton College, Bristol. He intended to study medicine, but his university career was interrupted by two years' service as Surgeon Sub-Lieutenant in

Libero Fatti was born on 13 January 1901 in Johannesburg of Italian parents, Luigi and Eliza Fatti, pioneers who had come from Sansepolcro, a small town in Tuscany, in 1896. He was educated until 1915 at the German school in Johannesburg and then at St John's College. After matriculating he started

Emerich Polak received his medical training in Prague and qualified in 1925. He continued his surgical training under Professor Rudolf Jedlicka and his first contact with English surgery was in 1926 when the Moynihan Travelling Club visited Prague. For forty years he directed an important surgical d

John Gerald Callanan was born in Ennis, County Clare, on 21 June 1920, the son of John Callanan, a British Government Official, and his wife, Margaret. He spent his early years in England, returning for schooling to Mount Mellory where he attended the veterinary college for a while before transferri

Richard Cory was born in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, the son of Francis, a banana planter and his wife, Annie Allen, nee Seymour. He went to school at Cornwall College in Montego Bay and in 1922 spent one year teaching before entering Bristol University for medical training. He was awarded the Suple Prize,

George Alexander Mason was born in 1901 and graduated from Newcastle-upon-Tyne University in 1922 and spent the whole of his professional life in that city. Although in every sense a general surgeon he soon became interested in thoracic surgery and devoted most of his surgical career to that special

Yoshihiro Hayata was a pioneer of lung cancer research and professor of surgery at Tokyo Medical University. He was born on 13 January 1924 in Hiroshima, Japan, and studied medicine at Tokyo Medical College, graduating in 1944. He spent much of his career in the department of surgery at Tokyo Med

Born in South Africa on 1 August 1918, youngest son of Hyman Brunow, merchant, and his wife, née Maister, he was educated at South African College School, Cape, and the University of Cape Town. After serving as house surgeon at Groote Schuur Hospital, he went on active service with the South African

John Stephen MacMahon was born at Cootamundra, New South Wales. His father was a solicitor practising there, but he also had a country property where the animals, the horses especially, fascinated the boy. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Goulburn, and from the very outset had an outstanding