inspiration//

mervyn

​

 

Being with Mervyn makes affairs of the heart a matter of history.

 

Dr. Mervyn Gotsman didn't just practice medicine; he redefined it. At the tender age of 33 in South Africa, he was on the team that performed the world’s first successful heart transplant, shattering medical boundaries and announcing his arrival as a force in cardiology.

 

Just a few years later, he moved to Israel and became more than just a cardiologist—he was the personal physician, trusted companion, and friend to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, securing a front-row seat to some of the most pivotal and sensitive moments in Middle Eastern and world history.

​

As the acclaimed "Hadassah Doctor", he led the Department of Cardiology at one of the world's most advanced hospitals, the Hadassah Medical Center. But to me, Mervyn’s most inspiring trait is his commitment to his patients, which knew no bounds, never distinguishing them by race or social class—a principle he upheld fiercely thought his career, even during the darkest days of South Africa's apartheid state.

​

Fifty years on, this relentless pioneer resides in Jerusalem. His story is a powerful testament to medical dedication, showing what it truly means to put patients first, driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge that still propels him today. This is the enduring legacy of a man who moved mountains in medicine and history.



​​