Keynes, Geoffrey Langdon (1887-03-25 - 1982-07-05)

Geoffrey Langdon Keynes was born in Cambridge on 25 March 1887. Keynes attended Rugby school before going up to Pembroke College, Cambridge to read for a degree in Natural Sciences in 1906. He graduated M.A. in 1913, and was elected a member of the Bibliographical Society in 1914. Keynes trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in the First World War. In the 1920s, he built a reputation as a pioneer in blood transfusion. In 1928, he was appointed assistant surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital. During the Second World War, he was consulting surgeon to the Royal Air Force, and was later promoted to the rank of acting air vice-marshal. From 1942 to 1966, he was a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. In 1952, Keynes retired from St Bartholomew's. From 1952 until 1954, he served as President of the Bibliographical Society. He was knighted a year later. Keynes's children included the eminent physiologist Richard Darwin Keynes (1919-2010). Sir Geoffrey Keynes died at Brinkley, Cambridgeshire on 5 July 1982. Keynes was a noted biographer, book collector, and also an admirer of ballet. His own ballet, 'Job', featured music by Ralph Vaughan Williams.