Question: when was the first successful heart transplant performed
Answer: 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 on December 3 , 1967 , and the second overall heart transplant ( James Hardy did a xenotransplant in 1964 ) .