Harold Frank McGhie Bassett was born in Klang, Federated Malay States, on 4 June 1923, the son of John Harold Bassett a barrister-at-law and County Court Judge and Leila, nee McGhie. He was educated at Harrow School where he obtained an entrance exhibition before entering St Thomas's Hospital Medica

Alun Rees was a cardiothoracic surgeon based in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. He was born on 14 June 1940 and gained his FRCS in 1970. He died on 12 April 2016 aged 75.

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

Arthur Siddons was a consultant thoracic surgeon at St George's Hospital in London. He was born on 17 January 1911 in Harrow, Middlesex, and was sent to Harrow School. He went on to Jesus College, Cambridge, and then to St George's Hospital, where he qualified in 1935. In 1941, he was appointed as a

John David Wade was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Born on 2 May 1914 in Cardiff, he was the eldest son of James Owen David Wade OBE FRCS and his wife Kate née Jones who was a domestic science teacher. His mother’s father was a Baptist minister and his father, a co

Rudra Rasaretnam was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Colombo General Hospital, Sri Lanka. His grandfather was Samuel Chellar Paul, a senior surgeon at Colombo General Hospital and his uncle, Milroy Paul, was the foundation professor of surgery at Colombo Medical College. Rasaretnam studie

Subir Datta was born on 26 March 1963. He studied medicine at Calcutta University and graduated MB, BS in 1989. After travelling to the UK to complete his training, he joined the staff of St George’s Hospital in London. He passed the fellowship of the college in 1999. Most of his career was spent a

Lindsay Grigg undertook his training in Melbourne, and then went to London where he undertook training in cardiothoracic surgery before returning to Australia. He also worked for a few years in Uganda where he did thoracic surgery and wrote about management of pyopericardium. He worked for a y

Bryn Terence Williams was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at St Thomas’ Hospital, London. He was born on 7 February 1939 in Halesowen, the son of George Frederick Williams and May Elizabeth Williams née Poole. He studied medicine at Birmingham University, qualifying in June 1962. After gradu

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

Kalyanakit Kitiyakara was born in Bangkok on 20 September 1929, the son of His Serene Highness Prince Nakhatra of Chandaburi who was later to become Thai Ambassador to the Court of St James. His great grandfather was King Rama V, Chulalongkorn, his younger sister is Queen Sirikit and his brother-in-

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