Doctor, poet, historian
(B. December 22, 1786, Istanbul- D. May 19, 1854, Istanbul). He is the son of
Emin Şükrü Bey, who was one of the teachers in Imperial Council, father of the
chief doctor and historian Hayrullah Efendi, grandfather of Abdülhak Hamid
Tarhan and brother of the chief doctor Mustafa Behçet Efendi. After he
graduated from Süleymaniye Madrasah, he has had Medical Education. He was
assigned as a doctor to old palace (1801). He and his elder brother Behçet
Efendi, who was the chief doctor and Anatolian Kadi-ul Asker, were exiled to
Keşan with the justification of running down to Halet Efendi (1821). With the
pardon, their younger brother historian Hızır İlyas took from II. Mahmud, he
and Behçet Efendi could return to Istanbul,
to their old jobs ten months later. Firstly, he was assigned as a doctor in the
new palace, then a chief doctor of private soldiers (1827). He was dignified by
mullah of Selânik (1827) and Yenişehir (1828) and later mullah of Mekke (1829)
and Istanbul
(1832) because he was raised in madrasah. He became the chief doctor (1833) and
Minister of Forensics School. He was dignified as Anatolian Kadi-ul Asker
(1836); but same year his honor was taken back and he was expelled from being a
chief doctor. Three years later, he was assigned again and became Anatolian
Kadi-ul Asker and a chief doctor (1839). He was assigned as Rumelia Kadi-ul
Asker (1841). Later, he resigned from his chief doctor duty by his own will
(1845). He was assigned as an Educational Council President and a chief doctor
for the third time (1847). He became Rumelia Kadi-ul Asker again and suspended
from his chief doctor duty (1848). He got the title of Head of Ulama (1852) and
he died while he was on duty. His grave is in Mahmud II Han’s shrine.
Abdülhak
Molla, became a chief doctor three times and had the highest degree of
religious scholars, provided the opening of Medical School
(1827) and let the medical developments get in to the country. He worked as a director in medical school and
also worked as a teacher. He established the quarantine organization against
epidemic illness and he made smallpox vaccination mandatory. When he was the
chief doctor in Medical School, he applied the projects of Dr. C. A. Bernard,
who came from Vienna
(1839). He got the permission from sultan to practice anatomy lesson on dead
bodies (1840). He was known with his powerful poems as well as his scientific
works. His unpublished poems were placed in the collection of biographies. His
poems are in the handwritten journal of Mustafa Behçet Efendi and it is in the
private library of lawyer Halil Edhem Arda. When he was exiled in Keşan, he
wrote a 333 couplets poem for a story he heard from an encomiast. In his work Târih-i
Livâ, he wrote about the events while he was staying in Mahmud II’s Râmi Quarter
during the 1828 and 1829 Russian War. In his work Rûznâme, he wrote his observations about Mahmud
II’s deadly illness. He prepared the Hezâr Esrar with Mustafa Behçet Efendi; in this work they collected the information
about old medical habits and 850 medicines. This work was published by
Hayrullah Effendi in İstanbul, in 1862.
WORKS:
Mecmua-i Mersiye-i Hazret-i İmam Hüseyin, Târih-i Livâ.
REFERENCE: A. Süheyl Ünver / Tıp Tarihi (1943), TDE
Ansiklopedisi (vol. 1, 1976), TDV
Ansiklopedisi (vol.1 1988), Adnan Adıvar / Osmanlı Türklerinde İlim (1943), Osman Nuri Ergin / Türkiye Maarif Tarihi (1979), TDOE –TDE Ansiklopedisi 2 (2002).