In the town of Mardan in the North-West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan), a boy named Madan Mohan was born on 14 May 1929 into a family of ophthalmologists. His grandfather, Dr. Ram Chand, and his father, Dr. Sewa Ram, ran a busy 50-bed eye hospital. From childhood Madan watched surgery, absorbed the quiet discipline of the operating theatre, and understood that restoring sight was both a science and a profound act of service.

After Partition the family settled in India. He completed his MBBS in 1954 and MS in Ophthalmology in 1957 at King George’s Medical College, Lucknow, where he was also recognised as an outstanding student and sportsman. In 1960 he joined the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. A Rockefeller Fellowship in 1963–64 took him to the United Kingdom, France and the United States to study corneal transplantation and eye banking. On his return he established the National Eye Bank and Corneal Unit at AIIMS—the first of its kind in the country—and trained generations of corneal surgeons.

From 1979 to 1989 he served as Chief of the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences at AIIMS. Under his leadership the centre became a national hub for corneal surgery, microsurgery, intraocular-lens implantation and community ophthalmology. He was instrumental in the passage of the Eyes Act by Parliament in 1984, which facilitated eye donation and transplantation across India. As Advisor in Ophthalmology to the Government of India (1980–91) and Honorary Surgeon to the President, he helped shape national policy on the prevention of blindness.

One of his students once asked him why he devoted so much energy to eye banking when the work was often slow and emotionally demanding.

Prof. Mohan answered simply, “A cornea that travels from one person to another carries more than tissue. It carries the possibility of a life restored. That is reason enough.”

In 1985 the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri. He also received the Adenwala Oration Gold Medal, the O.P. Bhasin Award for Science and Technology, and recognition from the International Eye Bank. After retiring from AIIMS he founded the M.M. Eyetech Institute in New Delhi, which continues under the care of his son Dr. Rishi Mohan and daughter-in-law Dr. Indira Mohan.

Prof. Madan Mohan passed away on 7 June 2021. In the history of Indian ophthalmology he is remembered as the pioneer who built the nation’s first eye bank, advanced corneal transplantation, and spent a lifetime ensuring that the gift of sight reached as many people as possible.