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

Lieutenant General Anand Mohan Ahuja was a pioneering cardiothoracic surgeon in the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services. He was born at Lyallpur in the Punjab region of India on 1 November 1923, the second of five brothers. His father was Jivan Das Ahuja, a physician, who encouraged all his sons to

Geoffrey (Geoff) Louis Allen was born on 11 April 1927 in Peshawar, Pakistan which, at that time was part of British India. He was the oldest child of Alexander James Grant Allen, a doctor, and his wife Eileen Trixie née Fitzgerald. He attended Lamartiniere School in Lucknow, India where he was in t

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

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

James Baird was a cardiothoracic surgeon in Wellington. He was born on 24 January 1922 in Hastings, New Zealand, the son of Hugh William Charles Baird, a director of a drapery company, and Jeanie Aiton Baird née Aitken. He was educated at Mohora School in Hastings and then Wellington College. He wen

Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes was one of New Zealand's foremost cardiac surgeons. He was born on 13 January 1924, the son of Gerald Cave Boyes and Edna Myrtle, née Barratt. After qualifying, he was a lecturer in anatomy at Otago, and then house surgeon and registrar at Wellington Hospital. He was subseque

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

Okon Odokwo Bassey was head of the cardiothoracic unit and a professor at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. He was born on 29 June 1937 in the village of Uya Oron in the Oron Local Government Area of what is now Akwa-Ibom State in Nigeria. His father

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

Jeffrey Graeme Bennett was a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Royal Brompton National Heart and Lung Hospital. He trained originally in Brisbane, Queensland before passing the Edinburgh Fellowship in 1971. He passed the FRCS in 1972 and held posts at the London Chest Hospital as well as at the Brompton

Kausik Bhattacharya was a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He trained at St George's Hospital and qualified MB BS from London University in 1990. Early appointments were at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor and the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (1995-97). He passed the fellowship i