Denis Parsons Burkitt

Denis Parsons Burkitt (28 February, 1911 – 23 March 1993), surgeon, was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland. He was the son of James Parsons Burkitt. Aged eleven he lost his right eye in an accident. He attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen and schools in England and Wales. In 1929 Burkitt entered Trinity College, Dublin, to study engineering but believing his evangelical calling was to be a doctor he transferred to medicine. In 1938 he passed the Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons fellowship examinations. On 28 July, 1943 he married Olive Rogers.

During World War II Burkitt served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in England and later in Kenya and Somaliland. After the war Burkitt decided his future lay in medical service in the developing world and he moved to Uganda. He eventually settled in Kampala and remained there until 1964.

In 1957 Burkitt and a colleague observed a child with swellings in the angles of the jaw. Shortly afterwards Burkitt noticed another child with similar swellings. After studying hospital records Burkitt discovered that jaw tumours were common in Uganda. Burkitt kept copious notes and concluded that the childhood cancers had not been previously recognized. He published A sarcoma involving the jaws of African children (British Journal of Surgery, vol. 46, 1958, pp. 218–23). The newly identified cancer became known as Burkitt's lymphoma. He went on to map the geographical distribution of the tumour.

On his return to Britain, Burkitt compared the pattern of diseases in African hospitals with Western diseases. He concluded that many Western diseases which were rare in Africa were the result of diet and lifestyle. He wrote a book Don't Forget Fibre in your Diet (1979), which was an international best-seller.

His theory that dietary fibre would reduce the risk of colon cancer is now generally regarded as incorrect. He had an alternate theory, published in numerous articles and books, that the use of the natural squatting position for defecation protects the natives of Africa and Asia from gastrointestinal diseases. This theory has never been tested and is now gaining more attention as a promising direction for research.

Burkitt was president of the Christian Medical Fellowship and wrote frequently on religious/medical themes. He died on 23 March, 1993 in Gloucester and was buried in Bisley, Gloucestershire, England.