David Geraint James

In 1958 David Geraint James invited a group of national and international doctors to the Brompton Hospital for a meeting on sarcoidosis. The meeting lasted for three days. This was the first international conference on sarcoidosis; Gerry had sown the seeds of the movement that led to the formation of the World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders (WASOG) in 1987, in Milan, Italy. Gerry was its founder president. Soon after, with personal financial backing of Gianfranco Rizzato and with Gerry’s persistence, the journal Sarcoidosis became the official voice of WASOG.

David Geraint James was born on 2 January 1922 in Treherbert, Rhondda Valley, Wales. His father was a teacher and wrote a regular Welsh column for the national daily the Western Mail. From his father Gerry inherited his love for the Welsh language and Welsh heritage. By the age of 10 he had become an active member of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Welsh League of Youth) and had developed a command of both Welsh and English. He could …