Prolific surgeon and columnist Dr Yusuf Kodwavwalla Dawood has died in the United Kingdom aged 94.

Dawood is best known for the Surgeon's Diary column that ran on Sunday Nation for thirty-eight years. In the column, Dawood shared medical experiences and personal experiences that he encountered with his patients.

His son Jaan Yusuf broke the news of his demise, saying “My dad slipped away from us in the early hours of this morning. May his soul rest in peace and may the gods look after him.”

Following the news of his death, writer and historian John Kamau paid tribute to the doctor calling him a great Rotarian and writer.

“A great Rotarian, writer and medic Dr Yusuf Kodwavwalla aka Yusuf Dawood of Surgeons Diary has rested. He was so many things to us Rotarians.”

Dr Dawood was a committed member of Rotary and was once the president of all Rotary clubs in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

He was born in India on September 13, 1928, in a family of five brothers and a sister, and came to Kenya in 1961 where he launched his surgery career at the Aga Khan Hospital. In 1975, he was appointed the hospital’s executive director.

The late Doctor and his wife Marie Kodwavwala had lived in Kenya for 57 years before relocating to the United Kingdom.