Professor Lionel Hersov (19 November 1922 – 11 March 2018) was a South African-born child psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London from 1968 to 1984. His research revealed new information about school truancy and the treatment of the "anxious child".^[1][2]

He qualified in medicine University of the Witwatersrand in 1948, his studies having been interrupted by World War II, in which he served as a medical orderly. He took psychiatric posts South Africa, then moved to London in 1952, to train at the Maudsley Hospital.^[2]

In 1984, be became professor of psychiatry and paediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.^[3] He was senior editor of Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry for many years.^{[4] [2]}

He returned to the UK in 1990, where be became Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust.^[2]