Browne, Stanley G. (Stanley George), 1907-1986

Stanley George Browne was born on 8 December 1907, in New Cross London; educated at Waller Road Elementary School, New Cross, 1910-1919, and Brockley Central School, 1919-1923. Browne left school early due to the illness of his father, Arthur Browne (1874-1967) and was employed as junior clerk in the New Cross' clerk's department at Deptford town hall from 1923, whilst studying at night school. Browne passed matriculation in the first division, June 1926; was awarded one of the first London County Council (LCC) non-vocational scholarships in 1927 and entered King's College London in 1928, receiving a further scholarship allowing him to follow a medical course. Browne received an MB, BS, at London University in 1933.

Browne became a member of the Royal College of Physicians, 1934 and a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, 1935; attended the Institut de M decine Tropicale Prince L opold, Antwerp, gaining a diploma in tropical medicine; worked at Baptist Missionary Society Hospital at Yakusu in the Belgian Congo,1936. In 1940, a leprosarium was opened at Yakusu and the American Mission to Lepers sent out a new drug, diasone, which Browne used successfully. He also worked on the increasing rate of onchocerciasis and the control of its vector, the blackfly Simulium damnosum, 1954. This leprosarium was known internationally and Browne was urged by leprologist Robert Cochrane to continue to focus upon leprosy.

Browne resigned from the Baptist Missionary Society, 1958 and returned to England for a year; was appointed senior leprologist at the Leprosy Research Unit, Uzuakoli in eastern Nigeria, 1959 and continued his work with trials of new drugs, in particular B663 or clofazimine. Browne was invited to be chairman of the working group on the treatment of leprosy at the International Congress on Leprosy at Rio de Janeiro, 1963 and advised on the establishment of the All Africa Leprosy Training and Rehabilitation Centre, in Adis Ababa. During this time Browne published extensively in both English and French on leprosy, onchocerciasis and other tropical diseases, as well as on medical ethics and succeeded Robert Cochrane as Director of the Leprosy Study Centre, London, 1966-1980.

Browne campaigned against the stigma attached to the disease leprosy and his work in this field was recognised when he was appointed an OBE in 1965 and the CMG in 1976. He was president of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from 1977 to 1979, and president of the Baptist Union from 1980 to 1981. Brown died, 29 January 1986.

Publications include Health of the whole person: a challenge to Christians (Medical Missionary Association by Christian Medical Fellowship, London, 1985); Leprosy: new hope and continuing challenge (The Leprosy Mission, London, 1966) and Leprosy in the Bible (Christian Medical Fellowship, London, [1970]).

From the guide to the Browne, Stanley George (1907-1986), 1960s, (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)

Stanley George Browne (CMG, OBE, MD, FRCS, FRCP, DTM) was born on 8 December 1907 in London, and studied medicine at King's College Hospital, London, graduating in 1933. He combined house appointments at King's with postgraduate study, and became Member, Royal College of Physicians, London in 1934 and Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1935. After being accepted by the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) for work in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Browne studied French and tropical medicine at the Institute de M?decine Tropicale Prince L?opold, Antwerp, obtaining the Diploma in Tropical Medicine in 1936.

From 1936 to 1959 he worked at the BMS hospital in Yakusu, working to control trypanosomiasis and onchocerciasis in the surrounding area. His rural surveys showed a high incidence of leprosy, and he endeavoured to find the cause and cure for this disease, establishing a leprosarium at Yalisombo. While at the hospital he oversaw an area of 10,000 square miles, in which he developed a programme of community care based on 18 health centres and 36 treatment centres. This pioneering programme became a model in Africa for the control of endemic diseases.

From 1959 to 1966 Browne was Director of the Leprosy Research Unit, Uzuakoli, Eastern Nigeria (becoming known in West Africa as `Mr Leprosy' and sometimes `Bonganga'), after which he became Director of the Leprosy Study Centre, London, 1966-1980.

Browne's outstanding skills in leprosy were in great demand throughout the world, and his very many advisory roles included Consultant Advisor in Leprosy, Department of Health and Social Security, 1966-1979, and Medical Consultant to the Leprosy Mission, 1966-1978. Similarly, he was involved with numerous leprosy organisations, including LEPRA (Medical Secretary, 1968-1973, Vice-President, 1984-1986) and the International Leprosy Association (Secretary-Treasurer, 1966-1984, Honorary Vice-President, 1984-1986). His contributions to tropical medicine were recognised by many awards, including the British Medical Association's Stewart Prize for Epidemiology, 1975, the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine's JN Chaudry gold medal, 1978, and the Fellowship of King's College Hospital Medical School, also in 1978.

He was a dedicated and active Christian, and was president of the Christian Medical Fellowship of Great Britain, 1969-1971, and of the Baptist Union 1980-1981. He married Ethel Marion Williamson (known as Mali) in 1940. He died on 29 January 1986.

For further biographical material on Browne see his obituaries in The Lancet , 22 Feb 1986, p 455 and the British Medical Journal , vol 292, 15 Feb 1986, p 491; Munk's Roll , vol 8, p 59; and Who Was Who , 1981-1990, p 98.

From the guide to the Papers of: Browne, Stanley George (1907-1986), 1909-1986, (Wellcome Library)