Dr Raymond John Clausen

Personal Details 

Dr Raymond John Clausen MC MBBS FFARCS DA

30/08/1890 to 29/07/1966

Place of birth: Cookham Dene, Berkshire

Nationality: British

Post nominals:

CRN: 715347

Education and qualifications

Professional life and career

Postgraduate career

The end of his first appointment (house physician at Westminster Hospital) coincided with the start of WW1, and he immediately joined the RAMC, spending the whole war in France and winning the MC for rescuing wounded men while under fire. He remained in the RAMC, serving in India, until 1922 when he became resident anaesthetist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, becoming honorary anaesthetist at St Paul’s and Chelsea Hospitals, London in 1926. The next year he was appointed to Charing Cross Hospital, remaining a member of staff there until retirement in 1955 although he again served with the RAMC during WW2.

Professional interests and activities

Seemingly remote on initial contact, he had both charm and a sense of humour which made him popular with staff & students, and he had a strong sense of personal responsibility. He contributed to the organisations of the specialty: AAGBI, founder member; RSM section, honorary secretary (1931-3), president (1938-9); and was awarded the DA ‘without examination’ in 1938. He was best known for his eponymous harness, a rubber strap device for holding an anaesthetic face-mask in place in the days before the laryngeal mask became ubiquitous. It was much modified by others, something which he did not always approve (BMJ 1945; 1: 97)!

Other biographical informationPerhaps not surprisingly as the son of an artist (Sir George Clausen RA), he was a skilled craftsman, excelling in metal work, modelling & sketching, and delighting in his garden. He married Elsie Edith Lennane in 1927, and they had one daughter.

Author and sources

Author: Prof Tony Wildsmith

Sources and any other comments: Obituary. BMJ 1966; 2: 414