Clive Fitts was born in Melbourne and his family lived in Erin Street, Richmond, not far from the present site of Epworth Hospital. He was educated initially at Scotch College which, at that time, was situated on the present site of St Andrew's Hospital. When his family moved south of the Yarra, he was forced to leave Scotch and attend Melbourne Grammar School. He found it difficult to transfer his loyalty, but eventually did so as he later became a member of the School Council of Melbourne Grammar.
His undergraduate medical course at Trinity College, University of Melbourne, was distinguished by his prowess in billiards, football and tennis, rather than academic achievements. He clearly benefitted from his formal education, but his lifelong love of reading made a major contribution to his scholarship and profound knowledge of literature. His address to the Friends of the Baillieu Library entitled "Confessions of a Book Worm" makes this abundantly clear. His widow, Lady Fitts, who was also a medical graduate, donated his extensive library partly to the College and partly to the University of Melbourne. Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici, written about 1636, was one of his proud possessions.
Clive's first appointment was as house surgeon to Fay McClure at the Alfred Hospital. In those days there was no Hospitals Remuneration Tribunal to determine pay and hours of duty for resident medical officers, but McClure informed Fitts that "You are off-duty when you have no sick patients." After obtaining his MD in Melbourne, and his Diploma of Tropical Medicine in Sydney, he sailed to London as ship's surgeon on a merchant steamer via Cape Horn and Holland. He was obliged to spend a month in Holland waiting for cargo, where he spent his time visiting museums and galleries. This developed his interest in art and subsequently led to his becoming chairman of the Felton Bequest Committee and the National Gallery Society.
During the years 1931–35, he engaged in postgraduate study in England, Switzerland and the USA. In London he worked at the Brompton Hospital and the National Heart Hospital, which led to his special interest in diseases of the heart and lungs. Three men in particular had a tremendous influence on Clive: Hope-Gosse, a physician on staff at the Brompton Hospital; Tudor Edwards, a surgeon on staff at the Brompton; and John Parkinson, a cardiologist at the National Heart Hospital. Hope-Gosse, born in South Australia and educated in England, was partial to Australians and, as a keen tennis player, especially liked Clive Fitts.
On his return to Melbourne, Clive Fitts was appointed first to St Vincent's Hospital and subsequently to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he served for twenty years.
As an undergraduate, I had a scientific approach to medicine and did not fully appreciate the Fitts approach, which was to consider the broader issues affecting the lives of both his patients and students. Early in my career, I treated a young pregnant woman with pulmonary tuberculosis. She wished to be treated in Sydney, but Clive invited us both to his consulting rooms, spent an hour with her, and persuaded her to stay in Victoria. The outcome was as he predicted. This event convinced me that a scientific approach alone was not enough.
Clive Fitts gave outstanding service to the College, being elected councillor for the years 1952–61. He was a member of the Board of Censors (1951–55), vice president (1956–58), and chairman of the Victorian state committee (1950–60). For many of those years, I was his honorary secretary.
His sense of humour and obstinacy are shown by this true story: In 1955, the Governor of Victoria invited Sir Russell and Lady Brain to lunch but explicitly excluded Clive. Despite protests, Clive drove them to Government House himself, and returned later to collect them, only to be met at the steps by the Governor and others, highlighting his tenacity and wit.
In 1948 he was awarded a Carnegie Travelling Fellowship to Great Britain, Europe, and the USA. In 1967 he delivered the Tudor Edwards Memorial Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians of London. He was a consultant physician in the Osler tradition. Thanks to his vision, a full-time department of cardiology and cardiac catheterisation lab was established at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1956. He was also instrumental in the founding of the National Heart Foundation of Australia in 1961.
His activities extended far beyond medicine. He was chairman of the Felton Bequest Committee and the National Gallery Society of Victoria, council member of the University of Melbourne (1951–67), council member of Melbourne Grammar School (1960–69), president of the Medico-Legal Society of Victoria, and president of the Melbourne Club in 1965. As a student, he represented Victoria in interstate tennis matches and remained a strong player throughout life. He also enjoyed golf and trout fishing.
Clive Fitts had many outstanding attributes — wide knowledge, eloquence, wit, great charm, and deep understanding of his fellow man. He married Dr Yrsa Osborne in 1939. They had two sons and three daughters.