The first heart transplant was performed by the South African surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard.  It took place December 3, 1967 in Groote Schuur Hospital. The patient, Mr. Louis Washkansky, lived just 18 days after the operation.  He had suffered from numerous heart attacks and had a heart muscle that was almost totally incapacitated.  The donor, Miss Denise Darvall, was only 25 when she was struck by a car.
The success of the operation thrust Groote Schuur Hospital into the medical spotlight.  The first American heart transplants came less than a year later, at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, by Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz and at Stanford by Dr. Norman Shumway.

*Bottom picture from http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/cvru/tx/

Sources:
Cardiovascular Research Unit. The World's First Human to Heart Transplant. 09 October 2003. <http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/cvru/tx/>

The University of Mississippi Medical Center. A Pioneer in Surgery. 10 October 2003. <http://www.umc.edu/hardy/>

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