Matthias Paneth (“Matt”) was born in Amsterdam, the son of a doctor who subsequently worked as a surgeon in Sumatra, Indonesia, where he developed a special interest in tuberculosis surgery. He was educated at Gordonstoun and Christ Church, Oxford. After national service and junior medical posts at the Fulham, Royal Marsden, and Brompton hospitals, he was awarded a scholarship in 1957 to work for a year in Minneapolis with Walton Lillehei, a pioneer of open heart surgery in children, who used a new type of artificial heart-lung machine designed by his own team. As was the custom in the United States, this led to a number of joint surgical articles.

Matthias returned to the Brompton Hospital as senior registrar and two years later was appointed to the consultant staff as a full time …