Christiaan Barnard

Christiaan Barnard (November 8, 1922 – September 2, 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon. He became famous for performing the world's first open heart transplant.

Early life

Barnard was born and grew up in Beaufort West. He studied medicine at the University of Cape Town, did his internship and residency at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, and became a general practitioner in Ceres, a rural town in the Western Cape province. While practicing there in 1948, he married a nurse, Aletta Louw. In 1951, he returned to Cape Town to work at two hospitals and complete his Masters degree, receiving that in 1953 from the University of Cape Town. From 1956, he attended the University of Minnesota to study surgery. While in Minneapolis he became involved in cardiology and chose that as his specialty.

Related Topics:
Beaufort West - University of Cape Town - Groote Schuur Hospital - Cape Town - General practitioner - Ceres - Western Cape - 1948 - 1951 - Masters degree - 1953 - 1956 - University of Minnesota - Minneapolis - Cardiology

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He was appointed cardiothoracic surgeon at the Groote Schuur Hospital in 1958, establishing the hospital's first heart unit. He had also experimented for several years with animal heart transplants following the first successful kidney transplant in 1954 — Barnard performed the first kidney transplant in South Africa in 1959. He also lectured at the University of Cape Town, and in 1961 he was made head of cardiothoracic surgery at the university.

Related Topics:
1958 - Kidney - 1954 - 1959 - 1961

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