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Johannes Albertus Myburgh, known as Bert Myburgh, was a prominent South African surgeon and academic. Born on 31 May 1928 in Lindley in the Orange Free State, he matriculated from Parys High School in 1944 and graduated with a gold medal from the University of Cape Town. He completed a year as a registrar in pathology before pursuing further studies as a Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford, from 1952 to 1955. He returned to the University of the Witwatersrand to finish his surgical training and joined the staff there.
Myburgh was appointed professor of surgery at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1967 and chief of surgery in 1977, serving until his retirement in 1994, after which he was named emeritus professor. He established a transplant programme in South Africa, performing the first renal transplant at Johannesburg General Hospital in 1967 and conducting pioneering research in transplantation, including work on induction of tolerance using total lymphoid irradiation. He also advanced pancreatic and biliary surgery and performed the first liver transplant in South Africa in 1973. Myburgh served as president of the College of Medicine of South Africa from 1986 to 1989 and held leadership roles in the Transplant Society of South Africa and the Surgical Research Society of South Africa. He received numerous honorary fellowships, including from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the American College of Surgeons, and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, as well as honorary degrees such as DSc from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1996. An inspiring teacher and lecturer, he was widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most renowned surgeons during his career. Myburgh died on 7 April 2010.
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Explore the remarkable life of Johannes 'Bert' Myburgh, South Africa's pioneering surgeon and Wits professor who led the nation's first transplants and shaped generations of medical leaders.
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