First Title value, for Searching Fisch, Ugo Peter (1931 - 2019)

2024-05-12T16:50:28Z

by Paul Fagan
Publication Date 2020-08-12 2022-05-03
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009700-E009799
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/383726383726
Occupation Otorhinolaryngologist Otoneurologist ENT surgeon
Details Ugo Fisch was a leading otorhinolaryngologist and professor of otorhinolaryngology at the University of Zürich, Switzerland. He was born in Weinfelden, Switzerland on 3 March 1931 but, on the death of his father when he was two, moved to Lugano. He finished high school in 1949 and went to the University of Zürich to study medicine, qualifying in 1955. He trained in surgery at Winterthur and then in the otorhinolaryngology department at Zürich under Luzius Rüedi. In 1958 he gained his doctorate for his work on thrombosis. He then spent two years as a research fellow in otophysiology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore and at the University of Chicago. He returned to Zürich, where he continued his specialist training in otorhinolaryngology. In 1966 he was promoted to associate professor and received his privatdozent for his research on lymphographic examinations of the cervical lymphatic system. During 1967 he spent six weeks at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, where he worked with William House on the latest surgical approaches to the internal auditory canal. On his return to Zürich, he began his fruitful collaboration with the neurosurgeon Gazi Yaşargil. In April 1970 Ugo was appointed to the chair of the otorhinolaryngology department at the University of Zürich. In 1998 he founded the Fisch International Microsurgery Foundation and, after his retirement from his academic post in 1999, he opened a private otology and skull base surgery unit at the Hirslanden Clinic in Zürich. His surgical skills were legendary. He wrote 300 papers and book chapters and several books. Two books were related to his microsurgical practice; *Tympanoplasty and stapedectomy: a manual of techniques* (Stuttgart, Thieme), first published in 1980, renamed *Tympanoplasty, mastoidectomy and stapes surgery* (Stuttgart, New York, Thieme) when a second edition appeared in 2008, which has been translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Chinese, Japanese and Turkish; and *Microsurgery of the skull base* (Stuttgart, New York, Thieme, 1988), which has been translated into German, Spanish, and Chinese. A third book was *Microscope and ear – the origin of microsurgery* (Zürich, Museum of Medical History of the University of Zürich, 2012), a historical work to honour his teachers and mentors. The quality of his books was augmented by the simple but detailed drawings that accompanied the texts. He was a member of seven editorial boards of academic journals and was awarded 27 honorary fellowships from countries around the world, including, in 1990, an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Ugo Fisch was a man of astonishing intellect in that he spoke at least five languages with ease and had an enormous breadth and depth of knowledge, both of history and science. He could discuss any scientific, historical or philosophical topic with ease. In 1964 he married Monika Haas and they had two children, Jann and Marina. His generosity was legendary. There were always two fellows in the department to whom he gave unstintingly of his knowledge and help. There were wonderful evenings at his home, and Monika ensured the fellows’ practical needs were met, including having somewhere to live, schooling for their children and furniture for their home etc. Ugo Fisch died after complications following a fall in his home and died in Zurich on 12 December 2019. He was 88. Everyone who knew him owes him an immense debt of gratitude for his contribution to his art, not only by improving the lives of thousands of patients but also by helping his fellows and students to advance their skills to a new level through his exceptional teaching. Ugo was one of the most outstanding and impressive people that one could meet. He was a man of astonishing talents who was never spoiled by his success. As a colleague and friend, one could not wish for better. We feel privileged to have known and worked with such a legendary figure.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009773
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Young, Howard Anthony (1945 - 2020)

2024-05-12T16:50:28Z

by Richard Davidson-Lamb
Publication Date 2021-03-22 2020-02-07
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009900-E009999
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/384489384489
Occupation Otorhinolaryngologist
Details Howard Young was a consultant otorhinolaryngologist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from 1978 until 2006. He was a Lancashire lad, born on 3 September 1945 in a house overlooking Swinton Park Golf Club, Manchester. His mother and his father, who was a consulting engineer, brought him up there with his older sister, Sandra. Howard was educated at Manchester Grammar School, and proceeded from there to Newcastle University Medical School, qualifying in 1968. He had always wanted to be a surgeon, and carefully selected junior training posts in pathology, plastic surgery and neurosurgery. He held a training post in ENT at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London and in 1977 he became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He then moved to a senior training post in Dundee and was duly appointed as a consultant otorhinolaryngologist to the Grampian Health Board in 1978. Howard provided outpatient clinics across north east Scotland, including Aberdeen, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Banff, Buckie, Forres, Turriff, Huntly, Nairn, Keith and Huntly, and to the islands of Orkney and Shetland. His relationship with local general practitioners was very good, no doubt partly because, as he said himself: ‘I always like to fit in a game of golf after my clinics if I can’. He was particularly interested in microsurgery of the ear and there were long operating lists every week at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and at the Royal Aberdeen Hospital for Sick Children. He also enjoyed occasional short working visits to Singapore and Hong Kong. In the year of his retirement 2006, he felt honoured by being made president of the Scottish Ear, Nose and Throat Society. His dearly beloved partner of over 40 years was Louise Stratton, whom he married on 23 November 2020. The wedding at their home under covid restrictions was an abiding and treasured memory for guests. Travelling was one of his great interests, always accompanied by Louise. They visited many countries across the world, yet he was also something of a homebird and enjoyed being at home with Louise and their Siamese cats. Howard was a man of many parts. He was a gentle, easy companion with a most engaging manner and was a very good conversationalist. An inveterate collector of maps, he was well-read and deeply knowledgeable with an encyclopaedic memory. Something of a bon vivant with a great sense of humour, he was yet a modest and humble man with a touch of the thespian about him – some will remember how convincing he was in fancy dress at parties. He was a golf aficionado with over 40 years membership of the Royal Aberdeen, Royal Troon and Muirfield golf clubs. Membership of the Royal Northern and University Club gave him great pleasure, in particular the snooker, golf and dining sections, with reciprocal memberships across the world. Cancer was diagnosed in November 2020, and he died on Christmas Day 2020 at the age of 75.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009939
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

Search Results for Medical Obituaries - Narrowed by: Otorhinolaryngologist

First Title value, for Searching Fisch, Ugo Peter (1931 - 2019)

First Title value, for Searching Young, Howard Anthony (1945 - 2020)