Physician, calligrapher, poet and scholar of
astronomy (B. ?- D. 1760, Istanbul).He is also known as Kambur Vesim Efendi or Derviş
Abbas Tabip. His views on tuberculosis and definition of germs were above the
understanding of his age. Abbas Vesim Efendi was known as “Kambur” by the
public. It is assumed that he is the son of the physician from Bursa, Ömer Şifaî
and learnt the science of medicine and Persian language from his father. Besides
he benefited from the physician Ali Efendi from Bursa and Kâtipzade Mehmet Refi
Efendi, a Kazasker (T.N. a high rank of science
and public service in Ottoman Empire) and Reisül-etibba (T.N. chief of
physicians). He
took courses of astronomy from Ahmet-I Mısrî, physics from Yanyalı Esat Efendi.
On the other hand, he established relations with Western physicians who were
living in Galata, learnt Latin and French and even let some Italian medical
texts translate into Turkish and acquired knowledge about the developments in
Europe.
Abbas Vesim Efendi took lessons of wisdom and
Persian from Yanyalı Esat Efendi,
astronomy and astrology from Ahmed Mısrî, medicine and talik script (T.N. italic style of Arabic writing) from Kâtibzade Mehmed Refi Efendi. He went
to Hejaz, Damascus and Egypt for a period for educational purposes. He produced
numerous scientific researches and improved his knowledge in the field of
medicine. On his return to Istanbul he opened a pharmacy and a clinic near to
Sultan Selim Mosque. He worked for
forty years as a physician in Istanbul, served people and improved his knowledge
on medicine. In the same time he entered the Sufi path and was initiated in
Halwati and Kadiri orders. His last spiritual guide was Muhammed Emin Tokadi,
one of the greatest guides of Naqshibandiyyah. He learnt Sufi practices from Mehmed
EminTokadî and applied them. Abbâs Vesim Efendi knew Arabic, Persian, Ancient
Greek and Latin languages well enough to be able to write articles in them.
He had a great contribution to the Ottoman
medicine. He has researches and examinations about tuberculosis based on his
personal experiences and which were regarded as discoveries. He defended the
idea that one had to know physics, mechanics and experimental chemistry in
order to understand medicine well. He wrote a book titled “Tıbb- i Cedid-i Kimyevi” on this issue. Besides he contributed to
the development and application method of deontology (history of medicine and
ethics of medicine). Using the knowledge he acquired from ancient physicians
such as Avicenna, from his own teachers and from some Western physicians who
came to Istanbul he wrote “Düstur-ül-
Vesim fi Tıbb-il-Cedid vel-Kadim”.
This work, which
compared Eastern and Western medicine and was a perfect corpus is important in
terms of our history of medicine. It consisted of two volumes. The first
chapter explained organ diseases from the beginning to the end, the second
woman and children diseases, the third lumps and ulcer and the fourth simple
and complex medicaments. This work dated 1748 has three samples; one of them in
Beyazıt Library and the other two in Ragıp Pasha Library.
He discovered the tuberculosis bacillus, which
is named after him. However, the theory put forward by Henlen, teacher of
Robert Koch who received the Nobel Prize of Medicine in 1905 is claimed to be
put forward by Girolamo Fracastoro (born in 1478, i.e. nineteen years after the
Turkish scholar Akşemseddin) for the first time. They claim that Fracastoro was
the first scientist to make a scientific declaration on this issue. They don’t
mention Vesim Abbas bin Abdurrahman bin Abdullah who was known as “Kambur Vesim”
who wrote about it “A germ causes tuberculosis which installs itself to lungs”,
hundred and fifty years before Akşemseddin’s writings on this issue and Robert
Koch. Nevertheless, he already declared certain treatment methods of intestinal
disease, as well. He also analyzed factors of amoeba and bacillus at that time
and declared that tuberculosis is caused by a germ which installs itself to
lungs.
Dr. Osman Şevki says in his work titled “Beşbuçuk Asırlık Türk Tababeti” that
medicine even by the beginning of 20th century could not add much to
the knowledge provided by Kambur Vesim about tuberculosis. The same
interpretation can be found in the work of Mehmet Tahir, “Osmanlı Müellifleri”. Chief Physician of Şişli Etfal Hospital, İbrahim
Pasha wrote in an article in 4040th issue of “İkdam” newspaper “Vesim Abbas
discovered germs of disease 300 years before Europeans, his views on the
treatment of tuberculosis and syphilis were very accurate, which was
acknowledged first in the beginning of 20th century”.
Another work of Abbas
Vesim Efendi outside of the medical field is an interpretation of “Uluğ Bey
Zici” in Turkish language, titled “Nehc- ül- Büluğ fi Şerh-i Zic-i
Uluğ”. This work which was
written in plain Turkish rearranged samples of all applications organized due
to latitudes and longitudes of Istanbul. He analyzed the
ancient Turkish calendar and added Hebrew and Greek calendars which were not
within the text. He explained the method belonging to Gıyasüddin Cemşidand
defined by Uluğ Bey about finding the sinus of a degree in a very eloquent way.
Manuscripts of this work are in Beyazıt Library and Kandilli Observatory
Library. Besides, he is author of a work titled “Risale-I Rüyet-i Hilal” on astronomy, a corpus of poetry titled “Divan”,
another work titled “Risalet-ül-Vefk” and a pharmacology translation
titled “Vesilet-ül-Metalib fi İlm-it-Terakib” he translated from Georgios the Hungarian. His grave is
in the cemetery outside of Edirnekapı.
WORKS:
SCIENCE: Düstûr
el-Vesim, Tıbb-I Cedîd-I Kimyevî,
Düstûr-ül-Vesîm fî Tıbb-il-Cedid vel-Kadîm,
Vesîlet-ül-Metâlib fî ilm-it-Terâkib,
Nehc-ül-Bülûg fî şerhi Zîc-i Uluğ, Nehc-ül-Bülûğ.
LITERATURE: Divân,
Risâlet-ül-vefk.
REFERENCE:
Bursalı Mehmet Tahir / Osmanlı
Müellifleri (1972, c.3, s. 242), Müstekimzâde Süleymân Sa’deddîn
Efendi / Tuhfe-i Hattâtîn (s. 668, İstanbul 1928), İbrâhim Paşa / İslâmların ve
Bilhassa Türk Millet-i Necîbesinin Tababete Ettikleri Hizmetler (İkdam Gazetesi
No: 2601, 1901), Osman Şevki / Beşbuçuk Asırlık Türk Tabâbeti Târihi (yay. haz.
İlter Uzel, 1991, s. 169), Sırrı Akıncı / Kitâbu Düstûru Vesim
fit-tıbb-il-Cedîd vel-kadîm İncelemesi ve ortaya çıkan sonuçlar (İ.Ü. Tıp
Fakültesi Tıp Târihi Enstitüsü, Uzmanlık Tezi, 1964), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye
Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People
(2013).
