Benjamin Sheares

Life & Legacy

Benjamin Henry Sheares (12 August 1907 – 12 May 1981) was a Singaporean obstetrician, gynaecologist, and academic who served as the second president of Singapore between 1971 until his death in 1981.
Born in Singapore under British rule, Sheares graduated from the King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1929. He specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology and worked at the Singapore General Hospital and Kandang Kerbau Hospital (KKH), eventually serving as the acting professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Malaya in Singapore. He later became the professor of obstetrics and gynaecology in 1950, becoming the first local to rise to such a position as high-ranking colonial officers were usually appointed instead.
Sheares retired in 1961 due to health complications and went into private practice before being elected as the president of Singapore by parliament following the death of incumbent president Yusof Ishak. Sheares was sworn in on 2 January 1971 following a unanimous agreement by Parliament and served as the president of Singapore for three terms, from 2 January 1971 till his death in office on 12 May 1981. He was succeeded by Devan Nair on 23 October 1981. During his presidency, he officiated multiple events and ceremonies such as the 1971 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the 1973 South East Asian Peninsular Games.
Regarded as "the father of obstetrics and gynaecology in Singapore", Sheares was known for standardising the lower Caesarian section in Singapore and creating an artificial vagina. The lower Caesarian section has since become the standard procedure in Singapore whilst his method to create an artificial vagina has been dubbed the "Sheares operation" and is used to help women who suffer from birth defects such as vaginal agenesis or in sex-change operations. Sheares remains the only president to have been elected for three terms. Both the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and Sheares Hall at the National University of Singapore (NUS) are named after him.