Quote from: Angela Foureira Komninou on December 26, 2010, 06:45:12 AM
Spacial, thats amazing ! He would be 1 of the first few people that ever transitioned. 
I have to say that he is an inspiration for me. Though I do need to try to imagine that things worked out well for him in Italy.
He did have a lot to deal with.
He was the eldest son of a man who had distinguished himself in WW1. I spoke to a number of older military types in the 70s about my grandfather, though not saying he was. The sort of responses were, 'Och aye, fine fellow'. His reputation seemed to the the sort that these men wanted to be associated with.
Scottish and very presbteryan. Those who've been to Scotland will understand that. For those that haven't, think of an old, bad tempered dog, then take away the intelegence.
He was a Dr. He'd been an officer in the Royal Navy in WW2. These two together meant that, in UK society at least, he would have been assumed to be the model of example. For someone like that to get a drink driving conviction for example, would have been bad enough. There was another fellow who had been one of the code breakers in Blechley Park, who, around the same time, was caught with a male prostitute. He killed himself, rather than face the shame.
Anyway, as I said, he was never spoken of, other than that he existed. In the early 70s, his brother, my uncle, went to see him. That brother was an archetech who among his achievments was working on parts of the Forth Road Bridge and creating a design for a public toilet which was used through out the UK for a number of years.
Few details of what happened other than that he was apparently chased out of the house. Knowing that uncle, he probably tried to lecture him. He once tried to lecture me about smoking and all I could think of was that I needed a smoke!
I learnt about his history from my father's second wife. She took enormous joy in telling it, saying it was all over the front pages of the Sundays at the time. Though she just said he put on a dress and called himself by a female name. The consensus of opinion at the time, which she seemed to accept, was that, as his mother has died a year of so earlier, he had gone mad. I also understand his medical licience was suspended for a while, at least. That was suggested as the reason he went to Italy as he could never again practice in the UK
I took some heart from that. Even though my own transision failed and I didn't ever regains sufficient confidence to try again.
I've done numerous searches for him, in public libraries and enquiry. Since the advent of the net, I've also tried that way, but nothing.
On the one hand, I'd really like to know what became of him. On the other, if it turned out he went to Italy and tried to put it all behind him then that may be a bit disappointing.
If I ever do, I will post details here. But to be quite honest, I don't really know how to start.
