Christiaan Barnard
- Category : 1922-births
- Type : GP
- Profile : 3/5 - Martyr / Heretic
- Definition : Split - Large
- Incarnation Cross : RAX The Sphinx 4
Biography
British-South African surgeon who made medical history when he performed the first human heart transplant on 12/03/1967. In the decades since, his ground-breaking procedure has become almost routine at some hospitals. The first operation, however, stirred up a maelstrom of controversy.
Barnard was one of four sons of a Calvinist preacher
In December 1980, he retired from surgery because of rheumatoid arthritis. Barnard is the author of a biography, several novels and a political appraisal of South Africa. In addition, he is the producer of TV documentaries.
In 1969, his wife, Aletta Louw, divorced him. In 1970 he married Barbara Zoellner, who was then 19. They had two children and divorced in 1982. By 1987 he was living in a villa on one of the Greek Islands with a 23-year-old starlet named Karin Stezkorn; they married the following year and she divorced him in 2000. He relocated to Austria. He died of an asthma attack the morning of 9/02/2001, Paphos, Cyprus, where he was vacationing.