William Robert Fitzgerald Collis (1900–1975) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

doctor and writer. As an author he was known as Robert Collis. As a doctor, he was commonly known as Dr Bob Collis.

Maurice Collis Maurice Stewart Collis (10 January 1889 – 12 January 1973) was an administrator in Burma (Myanmar) when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects. Life He was born in Du ...

was his elder brother.

John Stewart Collis John Stewart Collis (6 February 1900 – 2 March 1984) was an Irish biographer, rural author, and pioneer of the ecology movement. He is known for his book ''The Worm Forgives the Plough'' based on his wartime experience working in the Land Arm ...

was his twin brother.

Life

He was born at

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent seaside resort and suburb in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It lies south of neighbouring Dalkey, east of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Churc ...

, County Dublin. He joined the British Army in 1918 as a cadet, but resigned a year later to study medicine. He was appointed Director of the Department of Paediatrics at the

Rotunda Hospital The Rotunda Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal an Rotunda; legally the Hospital for the Relief of Poor Lying-in Women, Dublin) is a maternity hospital on Parnell Street in Dublin, Ireland, now managed by RCSI Hospitals. The eponymous Rotunda in Parnell S ...

, Dublin, and in 1932 physician to the National Children's Hospital, Harcourt Street. He developed neo-natal services at the Rotunda, particularly for premature babies. He worked for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

in the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentra ...

after its liberation by Allied troops. He was instrumental in bringing five orphaned children from the camp to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1947, and adopted two of them. He met a Dutch nurse in Bergen Belsen, Han Hogerzeil, whom he later married, after divorcing his first wife. He was involved in establishing Cerebral Palsy Ireland. One of his first patients was

Christy Brown Christy Brown (5 June 1932 – 7 September 1981) was an Irish writer and painter who had cerebral palsy and was able to write or type only with the toes of one foot. His most recognized work is his autobiography, titled ''My Left Foot'' (1954). ...

, a cerebral palsy patient who later became a notable author himself. Collis proofread Brown's first attempt at an autobiography. The writer

was his twin and

, writer and biographer, was his elder brother.

Works

He wrote the play '' Marrowbone Lane'' and an autobiography ''The Silver Fleece'', both in 1939. The book ''Straight On'' (1947), with Han Hogerzeil, whom he later married, recounts the liberation of Belsen. Other books included ''The Ultimate Value'' (1951) about the refugee children, ''A Doctor’s Nigeria'' (1960), and ''To Be a Pilgrim'' (1975).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collis, Robert 1900 births 1975 deaths Irish writers Irish pediatricians People from Killiney