Alberto Laurence was a distinguished Argentinian coloproctologist. He was born in Buenos Aires on 17 July 1915, the son of Hector Ernesto Laurence, a dentist, and Dora Catalina Laurence née Small, who died when he was a child. The family had ties to the UK: his maternal great grandfather, Harry Well

Neville Coleman Davis was a leading surgeon in Queensland. He was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, on 30 January 1924, the son of Clyde Davis, a medical practitioner, and Vera née Phillips. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and the University of Sydney, qualifying in 1945. He completed hou

Hiroshi Akiyama was professor of surgery at Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, and an internationally renowned gastro-oesophageal surgeon. He was born on 2 July 1931 in Chiba, Japan, the son of Dr Mizuki Akiyama. He studied medicine at the University of Tokyo, qualifying in 1955. He then spent a year on a

Carl-Gustav Groth was a pioneering transplant surgeon at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. He was born in Helsinki, Finland, on 15 October 1933. His father, Carl-Johan Groth, was a businessman; his mother, Margareta Groth née Sonkin, was a housewife. Carl-Gustav's elder brother, Carl-Johan, went on

Frank Hinman was a renowned American urologist, educator and skilful artist. He was chief of the urology service at San Francisco General Hospital from 1959 to 1977, and chief of urology at the Children's Hospital, San Francisco, from 1959 until his retirement from clinical practice in 1985. In addi

Hans Georg Borst, head of the division of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at Hannover Medical School, Germany was an internationally renowned cardiovascular surgeon who made major contributions to the surgical treatment of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissections, and to the development of cardiac

Daher Cutait was nominated the 'Father of Latin-American Colo-Proctology' by the Latin-American Colo-Proctology Association. He was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1913, and was educated at the University of São Paulo. After graduating in 1939, he won a scholarship provided by the Institute of Interna

Algimantas Narakas was born in 1928 in Kaunas, the son of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and later Minister of Interior Affairs of Lithuania. An infection of his left tibia and right hip brought him in 1938 to Switzerland in search of a cure. He was in effect confined to bed until 1946, when

Henk Verbiest, Professor of Neurosurgery at the Utrecht University Hospital, was born on 16 July 1909 in Rotterdam to Cornelis Verbiest, member of the board of a shipping company, and his wife, Mary née Peters. He undertook his medical studies at Leiden University between 1927 and 1934, during which

Dame Sheila Sherlock was a distinguished liver specialist, and the UK's first female Professor of Medicine. She was born in Dublin on 31 March 1918. Her father was Samuel Philip Sherlock and her mother was Violet Mary Catherine née Beckett. Educated at Folkestone County School for Girls, she went to

Robert Reynolds Macintosh was born in Timaru, New Zealand, on 17 October 1897 the son of Charles N Macintosh, a surveyor who had been a member of the first rugby football team representing New Zealand abroad in 1893, and his wife Beatrice, née Thompson. He was educated at Waitaki Boys' High School a