Sir Francis Gordon Bell ,

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

FRCSEd The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

, FRACS (13 September 1887 – 28 February 1970) was a New Zealand surgeon who was professor of surgery at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. He was a founder member of the

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is the leading advocate for surgical standards, professionalism and surgical education in Australia and New Zealand. Known by its common acronym RACS, it is a not-for-profit organisation, sup ...

and was elected its president in 1947. In the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in ''The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The reci ...

, Bell was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

Early life and education

Bell was born at Northbank Station on the

Wairau river The Wairau River is one of the longest rivers in New Zealand's South Island. It flows for from the Spenser Mountains (a northern range of the Southern Alps), firstly in a northwards direction and then northeast down a long, straight valley in ...

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, New Zealand on 13 September 1887. He was the son of William Bell, a sheep farmer and his wife Emma Amelia Dolamore, a schoolmistress and daughter of New Zealand's first Baptist clergyman,

Decimus Dolamore Decimus may refer to: Romen praenomen * Decimus (praenomen) * Decimus Carfulenus (died 43 BC), Roman statesman * Decimus Haterius Agrippa (died 32 AD), consul in 22 AD * Decimus Junius Brutus (consul 77 BC) * Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (–43 ...

. He was educated at

Marlborough High School Marlborough High School is a secondary school in Zimbabwe which is located in a Harare suburb called Marlborough. Marlborough is to the north of Harare City Centre and lies between the roads leading to Chinhoyi and Bindura from Harare. Marlboroug ...

(later Marlborough Boys' College) where he was captain of rugby and vice captain of cricket. He then went to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

to study medicine. Here he won the Vans Dunlop Scholarship in anatomy in 1908, going on to graduate

MB ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

with first class honours in 1910. He then spent four years combining clinical work with research and demonstrating in the University Anatomy Department. He became a Fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

in 1912. Under the direction of the neurologist Alexander Bruce, he completed a thesis on the development and microscopic appearance of the

occipital lobe The occipital lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The name derives from its position at the back of the head, from the Latin ''ob'', "behind", and ''caput'', "head". The occipital lobe is the vi ...

s of the brain for which he was awarded the degree of

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

(MD) in 1912 and for which he won the Goodsir Memorial Fellowship, named for

John Goodsir John Goodsir (20 March 1814 – 6 March 1867) was a Scottish anatomist and a pioneer in the formulation of cell theory. Early life Goodsir was born on 20 March 1814 in Anstruther, Fife, the son of Elizabeth Dunbar Taylor and John Goods ...

an earlier professor of anatomy.

Early surgical career

In 1912 Bell started his clinical career in the

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

(RIE) as house surgeon to Professor Alexis Thomson and went on to resident surgical officer (RSO) posts at the Stanley Hospital, Liverpool and in

Salford Royal Hospital Salford Royal Hospital (formerly known as Hope Hospital) is a large university teaching hospital in Pendleton, Salford, England operated by Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. It is one of the top-performing hospitals in the United King ...

, Manchester. A visit to Professor

August Bier August Karl Gustav Bier (24 November 1861 – 12 March 1949) was a German surgeon. He was the first to perform spinal anesthesia and intravenous regional anesthesia. Early medical career Bier began his medical education at the Charité – Uni ...

's department at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

Hospital in Berlin was followed by a fellowship to the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

in Rochester, Minnesota, which he took up at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Bell returned to Britain in 1915 and joined the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

(RAMC). He was posted to France with the 20th General Hospital and in 1916 joined

casualty clearing station In the British Army and other Commonwealth militaries, a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) is a military medical facility behind the front lines that is used to treat wounded soldiers. A CCS would usually be located just beyond the range of enemy ...

(CCS) number 21 as a surgical specialist. During the four and a half months of the Battle of the Somme he gained his first experience of military surgery. He was promoted to major and then transferred to number 48 CCS and, with this unit, he was heavily involved in the treatment of casualties from all the major Western Front battles of 1917 and 1918. For his service to the wounded he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1916 and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

Later career

After demobilisation in 1919 Bell returned to Edinburgh and from 1920 to 1923 he was clinical tutor in the RIE under Professor Alexis Thomson. In 1924 he was appointed assistant surgeon to the RIE. During this period he studied the development and histological appearance of the various types of testicular tumours. His conclusions, published in two important publications in 1925, came to be regarded as a significant contribution to the understanding of the development and classification of these tumours. In 1925 he was appointed to the chair of surgery at the

, New Zealand. Here he actively promoted the establishment of specialist surgical units and their integration into the university department of surgery. At a meeting held in Dunedin in 1927, the first steps towards the establishment of an Australasian College of Surgeons were taken and Bell was an enthusiastic supporter. He was a foundation Fellow of the

(RACS) and played an increasingly active part in its affairs both in New Zealand and in Australia. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the depletion of academic staff on military duty, and an increase in medical student numbers, he took on much of the increased teaching commitment of his department. He retired in 1952 and was succeeded by Professor (later Sir)

Michael Woodruff Sir Michael Francis Addison Woodruff, (3 April 1911 – 10 March 2001) was an English surgeon and scientist principally remembered for his research into organ transplantation. Though born in London, Woodruff spent his youth in Australia, ...

. In 1964 he published, with Sir

Charles Hercus Sir Charles Ernest Hercus (13 June 1888 – 26 March 1971) was a New Zealand doctor and professor of public health. He was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 13 June 1888. He was for many years dean of the University of Otago Dunedin School of ...

, a history of the Otago medical school and his autobiography ''Surgeon's Saga'' was published in 1968.

Honours and awards

Bell was president of the RACS between 1947 and 1949. In 1952 he became an honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

. In the

, he was appointed a

Personal life

On 15 March 1916 Bell married Marion Welsh Berry Austin in Edinburgh. She ran a Red Cross convalescent hospital, and was awarded the

Florence Nightingale Medal The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...

for this work. They were to have three daughters and one son.

Death and legacy

Bell died in Dunedin on 28 February 1970. He is commemorated by an annual RACS eponymous lecture and by the Sir Gordon Bell prize in surgery awarded by the University of Otago medical school.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Gordon 1887 births 1970 deaths New Zealand surgeons New Zealand recipients of the Military Cross Academic staff of the University of Otago Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from the Marlborough Region People educated at Marlborough Boys' College Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 20th-century surgeons