Magdi Yacoub

Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub  (born November 16, 1935), is a heart surgeon.

He was born in Aswan, Egypt to a Coptic Orthodox family hailing from the Southern town of Assiut. He studied at Cairo University. He taught at Chicago, and moved to Britain in 1962 where he became a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Harefield Hospital (1969-2001) and director of medical research and education (from 1992). He was appointed professor at the National Heart and Lung Institute in 1986, and was involved in the development of the techniques of heart and heart-lung transplantation. In 1980 came his transplant operation on Derrick Morris, who until his death in July 2005 was Europe's longest surviving heart transplant patient. Among celebrities whose lives Magdi Yacoub extended was the comedian, Eric Morecambe. In 2002 he was selected to spearhead a government recruitment drive for overseas doctors. He was knighted in 1992 by HM Queen Elizabeth II.