Christiaan Barnard - Personal Life

Personal Life

Barnard's first marriage was to Aletta Gertruida Louw, a nurse, whom he married in 1948 while practising medicine in Ceres. The couple had two children: Deirdre (born 1950) and Andre (1951–1984). International fame took a toll on his personal life, and in 1969, Barnard and his wife divorced. In 1970, he married heiress Barbara Zoellner when she was 19, and they had two children: Frederick (born 1972) and Christiaan Jr. (born 1974). He divorced Zoellner in 1982. Barnard married for a third time in 1988 to Karin Setzkorn, a young model. They also had two children: Armin (born 1990) and Lara (born 1997), but this last marriage also ended in divorce in 2000.

Barnard allegedly had affairs with a number of famous women, including Gina Lollobrigida and Françoise Hardy.

Read more about this topic:  Christiaan Barnard

Famous quotes containing the words personal life, personal and/or life:

    He hadn’t known me fifteen minutes, and yet he was ... ready to talk ... I was still to learn that Munshin, like many people from the capital, could talk openly about his personal life while remaining a dream of espionage in his business operations.
    Norman Mailer (b. 1923)

    If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said, I am, in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with course black hair, and grey eyes—no other marks or brands recollected.
    Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

    Sin their conception, their birth weeping,
    Their life a general mist of error,
    Their death a hideous storm of terror.
    John Webster (c. 1580–1638)