Ellis Douek

Ellis Douek FRCS (25 April 1934 – 20 May 2024) was a British surgeon and cochlear implant pioneer.

[1][2][3] His parents were both from Syrian-Jewish merchant families, and he grew up in Zamalek, Cairo, with his sister Claudia, and brother Zaki.

[5] "During the 1970s, a group in the United Kingdom, headed by Ellis Douek, began experimenting with an extracochlear electrode that was stationed on the promontory near the round window ... this device created a great deal of interest because it was judge to be the more conservative, less invasive, approach.

"[7] "In Britain ... [I]t all started in the early 1970s, soon after Ellis Douek's appointment to a senior ear, nose and throat post at London’s Guy's Hospital.

"[8] Douek is the author of the autobiography A Middle Eastern Affair (2004) ISBN 978-1870015875, and the medical memoir To Hear Again, To Sing Again (2022).