A. John Elliot ’55

John, a legendary individualist both as a physician and otherwise, died Aug. 11, 2021, in Sarasota, Fla. Classmates may not recognize the name. That’s because his name at birth and at Princeton was Amerigo John Eleuteri. However, during his medical residency, when he was called over the hospital PA system, he was repeatedly called “Elliot.” So he legally changed his name to Elliot.

He was born April 3, 1933, in Trenton, N.J., and studied at Trenton Central High School. At Princeton he joined Court Club and became vice president, and majored in biology. His senior-year roommates included Larry Mitnick, Don Kline, and Ed Cieresko (who changed his name to Clayton).

John was often first in his class at medical school at Columbia, a surgical internship at Johns Hopkins, and orthopedic residency at Yale. He moved his family to Westerly, R.I., and at Westerly Hospital he became chief of staff and chief of surgery. He also studied at Cambridge in England to learn new skills, went to China to instruct on arthroscopy, and was named a professor emeritus by the West China Medical University. 

In 2015 he and his wife, Judy, relocated to Lakewood Ranch, Fla. There he wrote and self-published a historical novel, The Last Trumpet.

John is survived by Judy; daughters Cassie Elliot and Sharon Ahern; and stepson Trowbridge Cottrell. He was predeceased by his son Robert in 2017.