Sir Ludwig GUTTMANN, frs (1899–1980)

The family was welcomed to Oxford where they were housed at first in the Master’s Lodgings at Balliol, then found a house at 63 Lonsdale Road (right), where they lived 1939–1951.

Guttmann first took up a post at the Nuffield Department of Neurosurgery at the Radcliffe Infirmary. In 1943 he was recruited by Dr George Riddoch of the London Hospital to head a new centre at Stoke Mandeville dedicated to the rehabilitation of spinal injuries patients who hitherto had virtually no chance of survival. A major part of his therapy was to get them out of their beds to become as active as possible. He conceived the idea of wheelchair sports and in 1948 to coincide with the Olympic Games he created a competition at Stoke Mandeville for wheelchair basketball, table tennis and archery and invited disabled ex-servicemen from Surrey to compete with the hospital team.

From that point on Guttmann was the driving force for a more ambitious vision for paraplegic sports. By 1952 overseas teams were competing annually at Stoke Mandeville. In 1956 The International Olympics Committee recognised the event and official paralympic games were held every fourth year. From 1988 the Paralympics began to be held at the same venues as the Olympic Games, thus conferring equal status.

Meanwhile Guttmann continued to lead the work at the National Spinal Injuries Unit, Stoke Mandeville, where medics came from all over the world to train, and new centres were created in Spain, Germany and Israel. He completely changed the outlook for paraplegics and those with other disabilities. He was much loved by patients and staff and affectionately known as Poppa Guttmann. He was knighted in 1966 and received many other honours at home and abroad, including Fellowship of the Royal Society. A statue of him was unveiled at Stoke Mandeville in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympics.