Dr. Noshir Hormasji Antia (8 February 1922 – 26 June 2007), often known as N.H. Antia or Noshir H. Antia, was a pioneering Indian plastic surgeon and social worker. He is remembered for founding one of India’s earliest dedicated plastic surgery units, for his groundbreaking work in reconstructive surgery for leprosy patients, and for his lifelong advocacy of community health and rural surgery.

Born into a middle-class Parsi family in Hubli, Karnataka, to Hormasji Merwanji and Soonamai, he spent his early years in Hubli and Belgaum before the family moved to Mumbai. He completed his medical graduation (MBBS) from Grant Medical College, Mumbai, in 1945 and served for two years as a Captain in the Indian Army Medical Corps.

In 1947 he went to the United Kingdom for higher training and worked under Sir Harold Gillies, widely regarded as the father of modern plastic surgery. He also trained with A.B. Wallace, a pioneer in burns treatment, and obtained the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in 1952. After nine years in Britain he returned to India in 1956.

Back home he began treating leprosy patients at Kondhwa Leprosy Hospital near Pune, developing reconstructive techniques for facial deformities caused by the disease—often under extremely basic conditions with limited facilities. In 1958 he established the first plastic surgery unit in Western India at the J.J. Group of Hospitals (Grant Medical College) in Mumbai. Inaugurated by his mentor Harold Gillies, it grew into the Tata Department of Plastic Surgery. Under Antia’s leadership the department expanded to include burns, hand surgery and specialised leprosy surgery. He is credited with performing the first microvascular free-flap surgery in the country.

He headed the department for 22 years until 1980, transforming it into a major training centre for plastic surgeons across India. Antia was instrumental in founding the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India (1957) and later national societies for burns and hand surgery. He also became a founder member of the Association of Rural Surgeons of India and worked extensively through the Foundation for Research in Community Health (FRCH), advocating primary healthcare and models of comprehensive rural development.

“Plastic surgery is not merely about appearance,” he often emphasised. “It is about restoring dignity and function, especially for those society has rejected.”

He served as honorary surgeon to the President of India and the Governor of Maharashtra on various occasions. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1990. Other honours included the Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1962), an Honorary Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons (1979), the G.D. Birla International Award for Humanism (1994) and the Karma Yogi Puraskar.

Dr. Antia married Arnie Noshir Batliwala in 1957; the couple had a son, Rustom, and a daughter, Avan. His autobiography, A Life of Change: The Autobiography of a Doctor, was published posthumously by Penguin India in 2009.

He passed away on 26 June 2007 at the age of 85. Generations of plastic surgeons in India regard him as a teacher, innovator and humanitarian who combined surgical excellence with a deep commitment to the marginalised.