Close
Michael Sternberg
Field’s 1946-1951
Michael Sternberg, retired consultant psychiatrist died on 10 October 2021. He was 88.
Michael Paul Sternberg was born on the 12 August 1933 in Vienna. After the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, his family managed to obtain a residence permit for Paraguay, and transit visas for Switzerland, France, Belgium and the UK. On arrival in the UK, his family were given permission to remain as his adopted father was a doctor (see British Medical Journal 14 Jan., 1978, obit., for Dr Tobias Sternberg).
Michael attended Lancing College 1946-1951, Field’s House, under the care of Mr Patrick Halsey. On leaving he trained at St Marys Medical School in London, where he qualified in 1958. On completing two years national service, as a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he entered General Practice in Rainham, Essex. He then became a Senior House Officer & Registrar at Nethern Hospital, Caterham. He moved to become a Senior Registrar at the Westminster Hospital. He subsequently relocated to Bristol in 1971, were he served for many years as a consultant psychiatrist at both Bristol Royal Infirmary and Barrow Hospital, along with a private practice in Clifton. In later years, Michael became disillusioned with reforms to psychiatric care, leaving the NHS to focus on medico legal work, retiring in 2003. A dedicated physician his charm and competence endeared him to his patients.
He retired to Exmouth, and in recent years his health impacted his love of travel, fine wine and food. He lived with a deep cultural heritage from his Austro-Hungarian family, in conjunction with the shadow of Anschluss and dislocation.
He is survived by both his first and second wives, two sons and five grandchildren, one stepson and one stepdaughter, and seven step-grandchildren.
Giles Grant