Professor Philip Michael Stell (14 August 1934 – 29 May 2004) was a British surgeon and historian. After a career in otolaryngology he retired early from his chair at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

and developed a second career as a medieval historian based in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

; he was appointed MBE in 2004 "for services to history".

Early life

Stell was born in

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

, West Yorkshire, 14 August 1934, and attended

Archbishop Holgate's Grammar School In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

. He qualified in Medicine in 1958 at 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 ...

. He worked in Edinburgh and in St Louis, Missouri, United States, before becoming a consultant in Liverpool in 1965, and professor there in 1979. He married Shirley Mills in 1959, and they had a daughter and four sons.

Medical career

Stell's obituary in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...

'' described him as "a dominant figure in head and neck surgery in Europe", while ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' said that he "was the first and most successful exponent of reconstructive surgery after head and neck cancer in this country" and that he "made countless advances in ear and throat surgery". The textbook he published as ''Head and Neck Surgery'' in 1972 with

Arnold Maran Arnold George Dominic Maran (16 June 1936 – 10 December 2017) MD, FRCSEd, FRCSEng, FACS, FRCPE was a Scottish head and neck surgeon and otolaryngologist. Having trained in ear, nose and throat surgery in Edinburgh, Scotland he then had f ...

(Heinemann, ) was republished in 2012 as ''Stell & Maran's Textbook of Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology, Fifth Edition'' by John Watkinson and Ralph W Gilbert (CRC Press, ). He published over 340 academic papers, edited 12 books and contributed to 39 others. He founded the journal '' Clinical Otolaryngology and Allied Sciences'', later entitled ''Clinical Otolaryngology'', and established the Otorhinolaryngological Research Society. Volume 1, Issue 1 of ''Clinical Otolaryngology and Allied Sciences'', published in January 1976, included both a two-page Editorial "Why a new journal?" by Stell and A. D. Cheesman, and an 11-page review "Tumours of the Oropharynx" by Stell. He was a talented linguist, fluent in Dutch, German, French, and Spanish, and an Associate of the

Institute of Linguists Founded as the Institute of Linguists in 1910, the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) received its Royal Charter in 2005, and is a professional association for language professionals. CIOL supports linguists throughout their careers, and pro ...

; when lecturing overseas he would speak in the appropriate local language. He was an early user of computerised record-keeping to analyse the outcomes for his patients.

Historical career

After retiring early from Liverpool in 1992 Stell moved to York and studied for an MA in Medieval History at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

, writing a thesis on "Medical care in late medieval York". In 1996 he joined the Centre for Medieval Studies at York as a research associate (honorary), and worked with computer voice recognition and other technologies to digitise documents about York and York Minster. He published six volumes of transcribed documents. His contribution was recognised by his being awarded the fellowships of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

and the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

. In the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

he was appointed

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

"for services to history".

Legacy

stained-glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window commemorating Stell and his wife Shirley, who died in April 2004, was installed in 2005 in St Mary's Church, Haxby, near York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stell, Philip 20th-century English medical doctors English surgeons British otolaryngologists 1934 births 2004 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School Alumni of the University of York Academics of the University of Liverpool People from Dewsbury Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century surgeons