Interview with Professor Sir Eldryd Parry conducted by Professor Tilli Tansey, for the History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group, 12 July 2016, in the School of History, Queen Mary University of London. Transcribed by Mrs Debra Gee, and edited by Professor Tilli Tansey and Mr Alan Yabsley. The project management and the technical support (filming and production) were undertaken by Mr Adam Wilkinson and Mr Alan Yabsley, respectively.
Professor Sir Eldryd Parry KCMG OBE MD FRCP (b. 1930) studied medicine at Cambridge and Cardiff, and was seconded from 1960 to 1963 to University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. In January 1966 he returned to Africa at Haile Selassie I University, Addis Ababa, and left in 1969 to take the Chair of Medicine at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. In 1977 he became the Foundation Dean of Medicine at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, where he introduced a radical Community Based Education and Service (COBES) programme. From 1980 to 1985 he was Dean and Professor of Medicine at the now Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He was Senior Editor of Principles of Medicine in Africa until 2009 (4th Edition, 2013). He is an Honorary Fellow at Cardiff University, Emmanuel College Cambridge, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ghana, and a Foundation Member of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of Amoud University, Somaliland. In 1988 he founded Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET), which he chaired until 2007. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2007. He received the OBE in 1982, and was appointed KCMG in 2011.
The History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group is funded by the Wellcome Trust, which is a registered charity (no. 210183). The current interview has been funded by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award entitled “Makers of modern biomedicine: testimonies and legacy” (2012-2017; awarded to Professor Tilli Tansey).
The interview is part of the History of the Modern Biomedicine Interviews (Digital Collection).
Access to the transcript of this video interview and its related material:
History of Modern Biomedicine Interviews (Digital Collection), items e2017068-e2017074.
Example of how to cite: Tansey E M (intvr); Yabsley A (prod) (2017) Parry, Eldryd: 01 - Becoming a doctor: family influences (12-Jul-2016). History of Modern Biomedicine Interviews (Digital Collection), item e2017069. London: Queen Mary University of London.
Access to the transcript of a longer, audio interview:
Note: Video interviews are conducted following standard oral history methodology, and have received ethical approval (reference QMREC 0642). Video interview transcripts are edited only for clarity and factual accuracy. Related material has been deposited in the Wellcome Library.
© The Trustee of the Wellcome Trust, London, 2017
Professor Parry also contributed to our Witness Seminars on 'British Contributions to Medical Research and Education in Africa after the Second World War' and 'Historical Perspectives on Rural Medicine'.
