The sad death of Professor David Marsden in September 1998 leaves the world of both movement disorders and clinical neuroscience without one of its most charismatic and outstanding personalities. I first met David when I was a newly appointed Lecturer in Neurology at the Institute of Neurology and he had just arrived as Professor of Neurology. His enthusiasm for teaching and for pushing forward our scientific understanding of the mechanisms of motor control rapidly seduced me, along with many others, into making movement disorders my clinical and scientific specialty. David was subsequently appointed Dean of the Institute of Neurology and ensured that it maintained its individual identity during its incoorporation into University College London.

David had an extraordinary …