Anthony Bryceson
Anthony Bryceson (1934–2023) was a British medical scholar who specialized in tropical medicine.
Early life and education
Bryceson was born in Kohat, then part of British India (now in Pakistan). His father was an army officer and his mother a nurse. He went to Winchester College in Britain, studied natural sciences at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and trained as a doctor at Westminster Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1959.
Personal life
In 1969 he married Ulla Skalts, a Danish architect. They had two children, William and Maia, who later settled in Australia. After his retirement, Bryceson moved to Australia.
Career in tropical medicine
Bryceson made important contributions to tropical medicine. In the 1960s, while in Laos, he and fellow British doctor Colin Prentice were held by Pathet Lao rebels. They used cricket and chess to communicate with their captors, which helped lead to their release. He then worked at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London and conducted research in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Zaria, Nigeria. In 1988 his research helped identify an early case of HIV-2, showing it can have a longer incubation period than HIV-1. He published many papers and books on tropical diseases.
In 1996 he defended the importance of tropical medicine in a debate at the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. In 1999 he was appointed a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He retired in 2000 and afterward wrote critiques for Shoreland Travax, an online medical advisory site.
Awards and recognition
Bryceson received the Chalmers Medal and the Donald Mackay Medal for his work in tropical health. In 2019 he was honored with the Vincenzo Marcolongo Memorial Lectureship by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Later life and legacy
Bryceson died in 2023. He is remembered for his significant contributions to tropical medicine and for surviving a kidnapping ordeal in Laos.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 18:12 (CET).