Meherji Mehta was born on 5 April 1917 at Navsari and went to school at Elphinstone and Xavier's College before entering the Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital in Bombay where he qualified in 1939. He took his master's degree in surgery from Bombay University in October 1942 securing a distinction. He joined the Indian Army Medical Service and was promoted to the rank of surgeon on a regular commission but resigned in 1948. He continued his surgical training and developed a particular interest in thoracic surgery at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. After passing the FRCS examination in 1951 he returned to India and joined the faculty at the Parsee General Hospital before his appointment to the staff at Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital. In 1960 he was promoted to Professor in the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery where he became a pioneer in open heart surgery. He was the first surgeon in India to use biological heart valves and in 1974 he performed the first successful coronary artery by-pass. In 1973 he also accepted the additional post of senior surgeon at the Jaslok Hospital until his retirement in 1975. Dr Mehta was a very popular teacher and colleague and an inspiration to many young surgeons in training. He was a Fellow of the International College of Angiology, member of the International Federation of Surgeons and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons of Great Britain. In 1973 he was elected President of the Association of Surgeons of India. He died on 7 July 1983.