Lee , John Alfred , 1906-1989 , anaesthetist

Born in Liverpool, 1906; educated at Taunton School, Somerset; studied at the University of Durham College of Medicine in Newcastle-upon-Tyne; qualified as a doctor, 1927; Resident Medical Officer at the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital and subsequently at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle; purchased a share of a partnership in Southend-on-Sea; appointed general practitioner anaesthetist at Southend Victoria Hospital, 1931; appointed general practitioner anaesthetist at Southend General Hospital, 1932; became a whole-time anaesthetist in the Emergency Medical Service during World War Two (1939-1945), serving for five years at Runwell Emergency Hospital, Essex; Consultant Anaesthetist at Southend General Hospital, 1947; began at Southend the first Anaesthetic Outpatient Department in any British hospital, 1948; organised the first postoperative observation ward (recovery ward) in any British general hospital, 1955; President of the Royal Society of Medicine Section of Anaesthetics, 1959; Joseph Clover Lecturer of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, 1960; Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, 1970; Assistant Editor of the journal Anaesthesia, and Chairman of its Editorial Board, 1970-1972; retired from his NHS post at Southend, 1971; continued to teach in Britain, Holland and Baghdad after his retirement; Clinical Tutor at Southend, 1972-1976; elected President of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, 1972-1973; Honorary Member of the Association of Anaesthetists; received the Royal Society of Medicine Henry Hill Hickman Medal, 1976; Medallist of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, 1976; received the Carl Koller Gold Medal of the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia, 1984; delivered the Gaston Labat Lecture, American Society of Regional Anaesthesia, 1985; delivered the Stanley Rowbotham Lecture, Royal Free Hospital, London, 1985; delivered the T H Seldon Lecture, International Anesthesia Research Society, 1986; died, 1989. J Alfred Lee edited A Synopsis of Anaesthesia, a reference work on the history and techniques of anaesthesia, anaesthetic drugs, and professional practice, from its first edition (published by John Wright & Sons, Bristol, 1947) through subsequent editions (2nd edition, 1950; 3rd edition, 1953; 4th edition, 1959), jointly edited with R S Atkinson (5th edition, 1964; 6th edition, 1968; 7th edition, 1973); as contributing editor, with Atkinson and G B Rusham (8th edition, 1977; 9th edition, 1982; 10th edition, 1987). Subsequent editions were published after his death as Lee's Synopsis of Anaesthesia (11th edition, 1993; 12th edition, 1999). Other publications: with Sir Robert Reynolds Macintosh, Lumbar puncture and spinal analgesia: intradural and extradural (3rd edition, 1973, and subsequent editions); with C L Hewer, Recent Advances in Anaesthesia and Analgesia (8th edition, 1957); as editor, with Roger Bryce-Smith, Practical regional analgesia (1976); with Malcolm Jefferies, The hospitals of Southend (1986).