William Robert Fitzgerald Collis (1900–1975) was an Irish doctor and writer. As an author he was known as Robert Collis. As a doctor, he was commonly known as Dr Bob Collis.

Maurice Collis Maurice Stewart Collis (10 January 1889 – 12 January 1973) was an administrator in Burma (Myanmar) when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects. Life He was born in Du ...

was his elder brother. John Stewart Collis was his twin brother.

Life

He was born at

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within ...

, County Dublin. He joined the British Army in 1918 as a cadet, but resigned a year later to study medicine.He played rugby for Cambridge University, including Blues in 1919 and 1920, and won 7 caps for Ireland in 1924, 1925 and 1926. He was appointed Director of the Department of Paediatrics at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, and in 1932 physician to the National Children's Hospital, Harcourt Street. He developed neo-natal services at the Rotunda, particularly for premature babies. He worked for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

in the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

after its liberation by Allied troops. He was instrumental in bringing five orphaned children from the camp to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1947, and adopted two of them, Edith and Zoltan Zinn. He met a Dutch nurse in Bergen Belsen, Han Hogerzeil, whom he later married, after divorcing his first wife. He was involved in establishing Cerebral Palsy Ireland. One of his first patients was Christy Brown, a cerebral palsy patient who later became a notable author himself. Collis proofread Brown's first attempt at an autobiography. The writer John Stewart Collis was his twin and

, writer and biographer, was his elder brother.

Works

He wrote the play '' Marrowbone Lane'' and an autobiography ''The Silver Fleece'', both in 1939. The book ''Straight On'' (1947), with Han Hogerzeil, whom he later married, recounts the liberation of Belsen. Other books included ''The Ultimate Value'' (1951) about the refugee children, ''A Doctor’s Nigeria'' (1960), and ''To Be a Pilgrim'' (1975).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collis, Robert 1900 births 1975 deaths Irish writers Irish pediatricians People from Killiney Medical doctors from County Dublin Writers from County Dublin Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union players from County Dublin