Dr Thomas Dormandy

Published: 27 June, 2013
by DAN CARRIER

DR Thomas Dormandy, who has died aged 86, was not only a leading scientist who helped kick-start our understanding of free radicals but also a celebrated painter, musician and historian who wrote widely on topics outside his professional sphere.

Tom was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1926. His father, Paul Szeben, was a pea grower who exported his crop to England. His mother, Clara, was a playwright and author and he had two siblings, John and Daisy.  

When the Nazis invaded in 1944, his family, who were Jewish, went into hiding. They were sheltered for months in a convent before escaping to Geneva and settling in London in 1948. They took the name of a Hungarian village as their surname.

Tom qualified as a doctor not once but three times. He had trained in Hungary and then re-sat his exams in France. When he arrived in London, he got a UK qualification at the Royal Free Hospital.

He met his first wife, Katharine, while working at the hospital. They had three children, and moved in 1964 into a house in St Albans Road, Highgate, where Tom lived until his death.  

Katharine died aged 52 in 1978. The Katharine Dormandy Haemophilia and Thrombosis Unit at the hospital was named in her honour.

Tom’s nature was such that he found working as a doctor trying. He trained as a surgeon but would worry so much about patients’ wellbeing after operating that he would spend hours with relatives.

He joined Whittington Hospital, in Highgate, as a consultant chemical pathologist. It was here he began his research into the study of free radicals and their effect on health. He was instrumental in setting up the Society for Free Radical Research.

Tom met his second wife, Elizabeth, at the Whittington. The couple were married in 1982 and had two children, Michael and Letty.

Elizabeth believes one of Tom’s reasons for looking into free radicals was that the research was extraordinarily complicated and he loved a puzzle.

He was a talented painter – his house is filled with works he exhibited at Highgate’s Lauderdale House. He also covered the walls of his home in a form of ceramics called faience.

Tom played the piano and collected classical music records, storing them in old x-ray files he decorated.

As a writer his books included The White Death: A History of Tuberculosis, Old Masters: Great Artists In Old Age, Moments of Truth: Four Creators of Modern Medicine, The Worst of Evils: The Fight Against Pain, and Opium: Reality’s Dark Dream.

While not overly political, he was dedicated to the ideals of the NHS. This, he said, was borne out by the care he was given by doctors at the Parliament Hill surgery towards the end of his life.

When his GP discussed what to expect, it was typical of Tom that he found humour. He called it a “palliative promenade”.