Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov was a Soviet scientist considered as a pioneer of organ transplantation. He conducted several experimental transplantations on animals from the 1930s to 1950s. These include world's first heterotopic heart transplant into the chest, first lung transplant, first heart-lung transplant and first head transplant. Considered among the greatest experimental surgeons of the 20th century, Demikhov particularly garnered attention for the transplantation of heads of dogs leading to two-headed dogs. The word transplantology was coined by him while his monograph ‘Experimental transplantation of vital organs’ that earned him doctoral degree became the first monograph on transplantology. It remained the only paper on the subject for a long time. South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who conducted world's first human-to-human heart transplant, considered Demikhov his teacher and visited the latter’s lab twice. Demikhov’s scientific contributions earned him the 'Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class,’ a state decoration of the Russian Federation, and also a USSR State Prize.
