Medical
scholar, surgeon (B. Amasya, 1385 - D. 1468). His full name was Şerefeddin bin
Ali bin el Hac-İlyas-Sabuncuoğlu. He was from a
family that had raised physicians and scholars. After having received his first
education, he received medical education from one of the famous physicians of
Amasya Darüşşifası (Amasya Hospital), Nahcivani. As of age seventeen, he began
his profession as a doctor under the master-apprentice system as per the
traditions of that era. He deepened his practical knowledge of medicine with
the books he read and the observations he made.
Working as a physician in Amasya
Darüşşifası (T. N. Hospital) for fourteen years, he trained many students. By
going to Kastamonu during the reign of Candarid Isfendiyar Bey (1385-1440) he
practiced his profession in Kastamonu. He went to Istanbul to present his work Cerrahiyyetu'l-Hanıyye
to Fatih Sultan Mehmed and on his
way back he visited Bolu, Gerede and Tosya. It is understood from the
information given in his last work Mücerreb-Name that he could not find
the attention he had expected in Istanbul from Fatih Sultan Mehmed, whom he
mentions with praise saying “Apart from science there is nothing valid in
the court of the dignified and virtuous sultan”, –probably because of the
influence of people around Sultan Mehmed.
The source
that mentions Sabuncuoğlu for the first time is the surgical work in Turkish
called Alaim-i Cerrahîn written by the surgeon İbrahim bin Abdullah in
15th Century in the field of surgery. The medical book called Çindar,
which was written in Greek and Syriac and reflected the medical opinions of
Platon (BC 427-347), Galenos (131-200), Hippocrates (BC 460-377) and İbn-i Sina
(980-1037) and was found in the Fort of Modon that was conquered during the
Morean Campaign of Bayezid II (1483-1508), was translated into Turkish by the
surgeon Ibrahim bin Abdullah under the name Alâim-i Cerrahîn. Surgeon İbrahim
added certain medicines and methods from the works of famous Turkish physicians
of 14th and 15th centuries such as Hacı Pasha,
Akşemseddin, Beşir Çelebi, Hekim Şirvani and Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu into this
translation.
Information
in Surgeon İbrahim’s work regarding a suppository used in gynecology was taken
from Sabuncuoğlu. Sections on cauterization and surgery in the work of Musa bin
Hamon, who was the Palace physician during the reign of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman
(1520-1566), which he wrote in 15th Century on dentistry are very
similar to those of Sabuncuoğlu. From this information it is understood that
Sabuncuoğlu, like other famous physicians of his time, was considered as a
rustic physician by the famous ones of the palace and that he did not receive
the attention that he had deserved and that his fame could not go beyond the
borders of Amasya at all.
However,
researches on Sabuncuoğlu show that Sabuncuoğlu was a serious researcher and
experimenter. Mücerreb-Name, which was the first monograph in the
Turkish medical history that included the medicine and treatment methods tested
by its writer, was written by him. Also, he included the medicine and treatment
methods in his book only after being certain about their results by having tested
them over and over again. The experimental study that he did on himself and on
his experimental animals while preparing theriac was a typical example of his personality
traits as a researcher and experimenter. The fact that he worked in Amasya
Darüşşifası for fourteen years is a proof that he was also a good clinician. It
is a significant thing that in his works he explained his treatment methods to
the slightest detail and that he explained the surgical techniques in a very clear
language that could be understood by everyone and that he supported them with illustrations
as he found them insufficient. He showed this
meticulousness in the preparation of the medicines as well. According to what
is understood from his work, patients from Anatolia and distant lands applied
to him for operation and treatment and he included the data he had obtained
with respect to these operations and treatments in his books.
Also, Cerrahiyyetü'l-Haniyye, is an unrivalled work which Sabuncuoğlu,
who was a good instructor and was a surgeon that came to the fore with his
knowledge and experience, wrote meticulously. Tools and pictures he provided in
his work with respect to the surgical technique he presented also provided a
visual education for the readers. Mücerreb-Name is a work that was compiled from the previously written works and was
expanded with the recipes he found himself. In his work he stated that surgical
operations could not be performed by reading only and that the ones who wanted
to perform a surgery had to see the things and even practice under the control
of experts.
It is
understood from his works that Sabuncuoğlu knew Arabic and Persian very well.
Because of what he wrote in Mücerreb-Name
“…I took this information from a book that was written in Greek…” and
because his words “…they call it Fiesta in Greek…” it is known that he
knew Greek as well. As is known, Rum, Armenians and Jews were living in Amasya
in Sabuncuoğlu’s time. According to the records in his works, he was occupied
with their treatment as well. After writing his last work Mücerreb-Name
he passed away when he was eighty five years old in 1468. The whereabouts of
his tomb is unknown. A hospital in Amasya was named after Şerefeddin Sabuncoğlu.
Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu’s
work, Cerrâhiyetü'l-Haniye, consists
of three books. Its chapters are as follows:
1- Akrabadin (It was translated from Persian in 1444. Akrabadin, which has the lexical
meaning “pharmacopeia”, consists of matters such as preparation of medicines,
simple and composite medicines that were included in the scope of “Four Humors
Theory” that explained the illness pathogenesis in those times, preparation and
the place of use of pastes, tablets, powders, syrups, gels, oral rinses, oils
and ointments)
2- Cerrahiyetül-Haniyye (Sabuncuoğlu’s most famous work. It was
prepared based on the last section -which focused on surgery- of the
encyclopedic work at-Tasrif of
surgeon Abdulkasım Zahravi (D. 1013), who lived in 11th century in
Andalusia, written in Arabic. Sabuncuoğlu turned this work, which did not
include any surgical operation illustrations, into an illustrated surgical work
and by including hundreds of his observations, he enriched it and made it an
original work.)
3- Cerrahiyetü’l-Haniyye (Date of writing of this copy which is known
as the “Paris copy” is 1465 and its place of writing is
Amasya. This work, which consists of 57 chapters, is written in author’s own
handwriting. Illustrations explaining the surgical operations are found at the
end of many chapters, and tools and operation illustrations are found within
the text.)
4- Mücerreb-Name (Sabuncuoğlu's
work that was written in 1468. In its
prologue it is stated that he wrote this work by corresponding to the request
of the circle of surgeons in Amasya. This work of Şerafeddin is more reputed
and spread compared to his other works. In this work, the use of the medicines,
which were tested by the author on animals, people or himself, were explained
and expressions similar to the case representations of modern day medicine
literature are found.)
REFERENCE: Muhtar Tevfikoğlu / “ Ali Emiri
Efendi” (Türk Kültürü, 88(8), s. 244-270, 1970), Prof. Dr. İlter Uzel / XV. Yüzyılın Önemli Hekimi Şerefeddin
Sabuncuoğlu (Bilim ve Ütopya, Ekim 2000. Hakkında XV. Yüzyıldan itibaren
söz eden eserler bulunan Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu ile ilgili yerli ve yabancı
geniş kaynak listesi bu makalede belirtilmiştir), İhsan
Işık / Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) -
Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).
