Guy Abercrombie Elliott was born in 1905, and educated at SACS and the University of Cape Town. From 1932 to 1934 he did postgraduate work in Britain and the U.S.A., specializing in haematology. From 1934 to 1938 he was a consultant physician in Cape Town, and returned to London in 1938 in order to undertake research for which he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine at U.C.T. in 1941. During World War II he served in the S.A. Medical Corps earning an O.B.E. In 1946 he was appointed Professor of Medicine at Wits, a post which he held until his retirement in 1967. In 1943 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and in 1956 became the first President of the S.A. College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was a Fellow of the World Health Organization on three occasions. After his retirement he was awarded honorary doctorates by Wits and U.C.T. He died in 1975.