Christiaan Barnard - biography

Christiaan Barnard was born in South Africa in 1922. he studied medicine at the University of Cape Town and became a doctor in 1953. He went to the USA and studied at the University of Minnesota. He returned to the University of Cape Town in 1958 to teach surgery. He specialised in the heart. Barnaard was not the usual picture of a surgeon, young and handsome he spent as much time in night clubs as he did in operating surgeries.

In 1967 he did the first heart transplant and became world famous. He changed the heart from a dead woman into a 55 year old man. This man died 18 days later. In 1968 he did the second translplant to a man and he lived 563 days. He met the Pope in Rome, and President Lyndon Johnson in America. He knew many beautiful film stars of the time, like Sopia Loren, but all three of his marriages failed.


He also performed free surgery on hundreds of very sick people.

Christiaan Barnard died in 2001.

Posted for Tomoro