Mervyn Samuel Gotsman was born in 1935 in the town of Hermanus in South Africa to Benjamin, a physicist, and Ada, a housewife.

In 1964 he returned to South Africa and joined the cardiac clinic at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.

In 1973, he immigrated to Israel with his family and served as the director of the Department of Cardiology at the Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Karem, Jerusalem, a position he held until his retirement in 2000.

[3] He served as the personal physician to Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and accompanied him on his trips overseas.

[5][non-primary source needed] He received the Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem award in 2007 for his contribution to cardiology in Israel.