Former director of the Peto ″ Institute, Budapest, Hungary (b 1923, q Budapest 1952), died on 6 October 2001 from spinal cancer. Mária Hári brought new hope to disabled people around the world through conductive education. In the late 1980s, following the BBC television documentary Standing up for Joe—the account of a young couple who travel from England to Budapest in the hope of getting their severely disabled child, Joe, admitted to the Peto ″ Institute—she opened the doors of the institute to foreign children and their families. Even though Hungary then lay behind the Iron Curtain, more than a thousand British families and many more from other countries made the journey to Budapest to find conductive education.

Former professor of paediatrics University College, Cork (b 1914; q National University of Ireland 1937; MD, FRCP, FRCPI), d 19 October 2000. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1940, serving until 1946 in Norway, India, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Italy. After demobilisation, he began paediatric training in London. In 1949, he was appointed visiting physician (with charge of children's wards) in Cork County Home and later as paediatrician to the other Cork hospitals. His was the first paediatric appointment in the Republic of Ireland outside Dublin. Following his appointment as lecturer in paediatrics at University College, Cork, in 1951, he established the first department of paediatrics there and, in 1970, he was appointed the first professor of paediatrics. His many interests included gardening, boating, and the ancient world. Predeceased by his elder son, he leaves a wife, Janet; his younger son; and two grandchildren.

Former general practitioner Lochgelly, Fife (b 1925; q Aberdeen 1948), died from metastatic bronchial carcinoma on 14 November 2000. After two years of national service in the Royal Air Force and seven years of general practice in North Gosforth, in 1958 Roy took over a singlehanded practice in the mining community of Lochgelly, where he remained until he took early retirement in 1983. When younger Roy excelled at football, tennis, and golf. After retiring to Carnoustie, he enjoyed bowling and gardening as well as completing the Telegraph crossword in record time. He leaves a wife, Dorothy; two daughters; and three grandchildren.

Former medical superintendent Dundee Royal Infirmary (b 1909; q St Andrews 1931), died from a heart attack on 15 July 2001. He was the last of the old fashioned superintendents, first at Maryfield, then at Dundee Royal Infirmary, and latterly at Stracathro. He leaves two children.

Former consultant cardiologist and general physician Central Middlesex Hospital (b 1933; q Leeds 1956; TD, MD, FRCP), died on 3 November 2000 after a long illness caused by multiple sclerosis. David's main professional interest was cardiology and he established the service at the Central Middlesex Hospital while maintaining links with the tertiary centre at Harefield. His research background had been based in cardiovascular physiology with a particular interest in monitoring arrhythmias and haemodynamic events associated with acute ischaemic heart disease. He was widely published and notable for his extensive collaboration across different specialties as diverse as nephrology, neurology, and cardiothoracic surgery. He became one of the key investigators in the early “PARIS” studies looking at the efficacy of aspirin and persantin in preventing a myocardial infarction. Outside medicine, his interests could be encapsulated under the headings of sport, family, and fine ale. He leaves a wife, Elizabeth; five children; and five grandchildren.

Former general practitioner Pontardawe (b 1916; q Cardiff; BSc, MRCGP), d 18 June 2001. He was a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1943 to 1946. After landing in Normandy he served as a regimental medical officer until the armistice. Then he became a trainee surgeon to 25 British General Hospital until he was demobilised in 1946. Returning to Cardiff, he became a supernumerary registrar to the medical school before leaving to become a general practitioner in the Swansea Valley. As senior partner he remained at Pontardawe for 23 years before being disabled by coronary disease. He was an ardent fisherman, a keen gardener, and an active naturalist. Predeceased by his wife, Margaret Jean, he leaves four children and seven grandchildren.

Professor of neurosurgery University of Southampton (b Naples 1952; q Naples 1976; FRCS Ed), died from a brain tumour on 26 June 2001. Fausto Iannotti's death leaves a gap in the national training programme for neurosurgery and in the international field of research into stroke and brain protection after injury. He was attracted early into neurosurgery and had his early neurosurgical training in the First University Hospital in Naples. He arrived at the Institute of Neurology in London in 1979 and became involved with laboratory work to trace the intimate relationship of the surviving cells' metabolism to the residual blood flow in an area of stroke in the brain. The experimental model devised then is still in use 20 years later. He published more than 50 original papers and 12 review chapters covering these topics. After posts in California and Michigan, he was appointed senior lecturer in neurosurgery at the University of Southampton in 1991 and became professor in 1997. There he raised £1.6m to fund the laboratory research and the staff of his seminal work. At the height of his success in Southampton and not long after his inaugural professorial lecture, changes occurred that ultimately led to the diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour. He leaves a wife, Pamela; and two children.

Former general practitioner Southampton (b 1917; q Barts 1941), died suddenly from a heart attack on 22 November 2000. After qualifying, he worked through the Blitz in the Mildmay Mission Hospital in Bethnal Green. He then joined the navy and served in the Indian Ocean and the north Atlantic before crossing to France on D-Day. After demobilisation he became a partner in a Southampton practice. Alan retired at 60 and then started his next career. He and his wife Gene joined the Church Missionary Society and spent five years working in Juba in the southern Sudan, where Alan was medical officer to the local missionaries. He leaves Gene; six daughters; and 16 grandchildren.

Former consultant anaesthetist Newcastle upon Tyne Group of Hospitals (b Stepps, Lanarkshire, 1918; q Glasgow 1944; DA, FFARCS), d 13 June 2001. From 1945 to 1947 he served as an anaesthetist in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He went to Newcastle after junior appointments in Glasgow, and worked at the Ear, Nose and Throat, Rye Hill, and Fleming Paediatric hospitals, before his final appointment as consultant anaesthetist to the Newcastle Group of Hospitals. He was of short stature and slight build, and his colleagues always referred to him affectionately as “Wee Willie.” He retired in 1983, but continued to exercise his brain by embarking on an Open University course in humanities and gained a bachelor's degree in English literature. He leaves a wife, Brigid; and a son.

Former consultant physician and clinical professor of diabetes and endocrinology (b India 1919; q Cambridge 1943; FRCP, FRCOG), died from prostate cancer on 30 July 2001. After being a Rockefeller student at Harvard University, where he qualified MD (magna cum laude) in 1943, he was in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He then worked at University College Hospital, London, where he became interested in carbohydrate metabolism. Just a few months after starting to specialise in diabetes, he himself developed insulin dependent diabetes. In 1953 he moved to Dundee, where he was appointed senior lecturer in medicine at St Andrews University. In 1961 he became physician in charge of the diabetic service for the Grampian region, based in Aberdeen. In 1977, he was appointed clinical reader in medicine, University of Aberdeen, and two years later he was awarded the honorary title of clinical professor of diabetes and endocrinology in recognition of his “scientific scholarship and his world famous diabetic clinic.” As well as being a full time clinician, he was a dedicated researcher, and published much of his work on carbohydrate metabolism in pregnancy. He enjoyed tending his garden, carpentry, and trout fishing. He leaves a wife, Mary; three children; and eight grandchildren. A memorial service will take place in Aberdeen on 26 October.