Marius Barnard
Marius Barnard (1968)
Born	Marius Stephanus Barnard 3 November 1927 (1927-11-03) Beaufort West, Union of South Africa
Died	14 November 2014(2014-11-14) (aged 87) Hermanus, South Africa
Education	University of Cape Town
Years active	1950–2001
Known for	Inventing critical illness insurance and political reforms
Spouse	Inez [1]
Children	3 [1]
Relatives	Christiaan Barnard (brother)
Medical career
Profession	Surgeon
Institutions	Groote Schuur Hospital
Sub-specialties	Cardiothoracic surgery Heart transplantation

Marius Stephanus Barnard (3 November 1927 – 14 November 2014) was a South African cardiac surgeon and inventor of critical illness insurance. ^{[2] [3]}

Barnard was a member of the team headed by his brother Christiaan Barnard that performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplantation in 1967. ^[4] Specifically, he was one of the surgeons who removed the heart from donor Denise Darvall at Groote Schuur Hospital. ^{[5] [6]} After a 2009 documentary film Hidden Heart suggested that Hamilton Naki removed the donor heart, Barnard was quoted as describing the film as "rubbish, a joke, it’s a total distortion of the facts" ^[7] and as stating that Naki was at the time "in his bed, about 8 km away from Groote Schuur". ^[8]

Barnard was motivated by the financial hardship he saw his patients suffer after he had treated their critical illnesses to convince the South African insurance companies to introduce a new type of insurance to cover critical illnesses. Barnard argued that, as a medical doctor, he can repair a man physically, but only insurers can repair a patient's finances. ^[9] On 6 August 1983 the first critical illness insurance policy was launched. ^[10]

Barnard was a member of the South African parliament between 1980 and 1989, for the Progressive Federal Party - one of the few political parties that opposed apartheid. He later acted as a technical consultant for Scottish Widows. ^[4] Barnard received many awards for his contributions to medicine and humanity, and was voted in the top 25 most influential people in the field of health insurance and protection. ^[11]

He died on 14 November 2014 after battling with prostate cancer. ^{[1] [12]}