PHYSICIAN

Christiaan Barnard

1922 - 2001

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Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident victim Denise Darvall into the chest of 54-year-old Louis Washkansky, who regained full consciousness and was able to talk easily with his wife, before dying 18 days later of pneumonia, largely brought on by the anti-rejection drugs that suppressed his immune system. Barnard had told Mr. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Christiaan Barnard has received more than 1,998,646 page views. His biography is available in 54 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 53 in 2019). Christiaan Barnard is the 68th most popular physician (down from 47th in 2019), the 11th most popular biography from South Africa (down from 8th in 2019) and the most popular South African Physician.

Christiaan Barnard is most famous for performing the first successful human-to-human heart transplant on December 3, 1967.

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.0M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 66.38

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 54

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.26

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.75

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICIANS

Among physicians, Christiaan Barnard ranks 68 out of 726Before him are William P. Murphy, Johannes Fibiger, Francesco Redi, Shirō Ishii, Ferid Murad, and Otto Loewi. After him are Herophilos, Elias Lönnrot, Niels Ryberg Finsen, Frederick Banting, Stanley Cohen, and Jacques Rogge.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1922, Christiaan Barnard ranks 27Before him are Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Imre Lakatos, Philip Larkin, Vittorio Gassman, and Alain Resnais. After him are Miguel Muñoz, Stanley Cohen, Renata Tebaldi, Yang Chen-Ning, Alain Robbe-Grillet, and Telly Savalas. Among people deceased in 2001, Christiaan Barnard ranks 15Before him are Jack Lemmon, Herbert A. Simon, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Ahmad Shah Massoud, Sabiha Gökçen, and Laurent-Désiré Kabila. After him are Fred Hoyle, Wilhelm Mohnke, Iannis Xenakis, Gilbert Bécaud, Alberto Korda, and Ernst Gombrich.

Others Born in 1922

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Others Deceased in 2001

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In South Africa

Among people born in South Africa, Christiaan Barnard ranks 11 out of 454Before him are Sarah Baartman (1788), J. M. Coetzee (1940), F. W. de Klerk (1936), Nadine Gordimer (1923), Shaka (1787), and Desmond Tutu (1931). After him are Cyril Ramaphosa (1952), Max Theiler (1899), Charlize Theron (1975), Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (1942), Jacob Zuma (1942), and Thabo Mbeki (1942).

Among PHYSICIANS In South Africa

Among physicians born in South Africa, Christiaan Barnard ranks 1After him are David Cooper (1931).