Russell Claude Brock

Russell Claude Brock, Baron Brock (24 October 1903 – 3 September 1980) was a leading British chest and heart surgeon and one of the pioneers of modern open-heart surgery. His achievements were recognised by a Knighthood in 1954, a Life Peerage in 1965, and a host of other awards.

He was born in London, 1903, the son of Herbert Brock, a master photographer, and his wife, Elvina (née Carman). He was the second of six sons and fourth of eight children. He was educated at Haselrigge Road School, Clapham, and then at Christ's Hospital, Horsham, where he later became an Almoner (governor). He entered Guy's Hospital Medical School in 1921 at age 17 with an arts scholarship. He qualified LRCP (Lond.) and MRCS (Eng.) 1926, and graduated MB, BS (Lond.) with honours and distinction in medicine, surgery, and anatomy in 1927. He was appointed demonstrator in anatomy and in pathology at Guy's and passed the final FRCS (Eng.) in 1929.

Brock was elected to a Rockefeller travelling fellowship and worked in the surgical department of Evarts Graham at St. Louis, Missouri, 1929-30. There he developed a lifelong interest in thoracic surgery. He returned to Guy's as surgical registrar and tutor in 1932 and was appointed research fellow of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. He won the Jacksonian prize of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1935 and was elected a Hunterian professor in 1938. Appointments included consultant thoracic surgeon to the London County Council, 1935–46; surgeon to the Ministry of Pensions at Roehampton Hospital, 1936–45; surgeon to Guy's and the Brompton hospitals 1936-1968. During World War Two he was also thoracic surgeon and regional adviser in thoracic surgery to the Emergency Medical Service in the Guy's region. Based on this experience, in 1946 he published a book on bronchial anatomy which became a classic.

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