Lewis, as he was generally known, was born in Vienna, the only son of Abraham Bieder, a railway company lawyer and his wife Bertha Flinker, herself from a medical family. He graduated with distinction from the University of Vienna and was appointed resident, and later university tutor, at Rosenhugel Hospital for Neurological Diseases in Vienna from 1935 to 1938.

The annexation of Austria, the Anschluss, in 1938, led to commandeering of Rosenhugel Hospital by a unit of SS, who gave Lewis a receipt for his dispensary. All Jewish personnel were dismissed and patients forcibly discharged. In the face of these untenable health reforms, Lewis crossed the border into Switzerland with other refugees in March 1938.

He was fortunate to obtain a temporary work permit for six months and found work in a mental hospital at Zihlschlacht, near Lake Konstanz, where he stayed for 15 months. It was a demanding position, living and working in a close environment with psychiatric patients. After several months, he was given his first weekend off and travelled to Zurich, where, waiting for a tram, he exchanged pleasantries with the first person from outside the hospital for months, who replied, 'Good morning, I’m Jesus Christ'. Not wishing to face any of the possible outcomes of the delusional analysis, Lewis decided to walk!

In May 1939, he was able to travel to Brussels, and discovered that his application for a New Zealand entry permit had been granted. He sailed for Wellington in the week that war was declared. Arriving in Wellington with little money, his qualifications not recognised, and an enemy citizen into the bargain, could not have been a promising start to a life in New Zealand. He got a job as a porter at Wellington Hospital, and successfully applied to re-enter medical school. Given credit for two years’ basic science, he entered the Clinical School in Dunedin, graduating in 1942, as Travis Scholar. During his time in Dunedin, Lewis coached the university soccer team, and met a physiotherapy student, Lois Little. They married after graduation, and Lewis took a GP locum in Foxton in 1943. They stayed for three years, before pursuing postgraduate training at the Hammersmith Hospital in London.

On return in 1948, Lewis was appointed Visiting Physician to Palmerston North Hospital, a post he held until his first retirement in 1975. He passed his examination for membership of the College in 1962, and was elected Fellow in 1970. During his time as a visiting physician, he pioneered flexible fibreoptic gastrointestinal endoscopy. He became Medical Director of Glaxo Laboratories, forming valuable links between clinical medicine and the pharmaceutical industry.

His interest in the pharmacology and biochemistry of alcohol led to an Honorary Lectureship in Biochemistry at Massey University. In 1976, he established the Detoxification Unit at Palmerston North Hospital, the first in New Zealand. He remained Director until his second retirement in 1981. He was a member of the medical committee of the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council, and co-authored 'A Handbook on Alcoholism' for medical practitioners, 1982, published by the Council in New Zealand and Britain.

He always retained fond associations with Foxton (where he lived for a time) and his Foxton patients, 'I’m a Foxtonian', he would say in his strong Austrian accent. Lewis finally retired from private practice in 1985, though he maintained a regular attendance at meetings until 1993. Throughout his long career, his clinical skill and compassion endeared him to his patients and the staff. Lewis loved to teach, he challenged ideas, directed and advised. He was the catalyst. He always encouraged his staff to make the most of their abilities, take the opportunities offered, and he had the skill to know when to push or to stand back and wait.

Outside medicine, he maintained interests in everything interesting; from chamber music to theatre, supporting the Art Gallery with Lois, coaching water polo, being a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand, fisherman, playing the cello, a lover of the outdoors, an amazing raconteur, and an enthusiastic listener. He said that, in spite of its isolation, New Zealand still provided cultural opportunities denied in Europe – he enjoyed listening to the Vienna Boys’ Choir in Vienna, but in Palmerston North they even came to his home!

His family was very special. His parents miraculously survived the war, hiding in Europe, and eventually emigrated to New Zealand in 1948. The saga of their experiences is told by Lois Bieder in 'Escape from Vienna', Heritage Press NZ 1986. Lois and Lewis have five daughters, including two sets of twins.

In his final years, Lewis was cruelly afflicted by Parkinonism. He retired to Auckland where he died. He leaves a legacy of friendship and great admiration.