A Look at the Ottoman Social and Medical Modernization through the Life of Dr. Servicen
A Look at the Ottoman Social and Medical Modernization through the Life of Dr. Servicen

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the steps in medical modernization at socio-political context during the 19th century Ottoman State by focusing on the life of Dr. Servichen (1815- 1897), a professor of Medicine at the time in Turkey. At the wake of the social reformation in the Ottoman Empire, Serovpe Vicenian (Servicen) received medical education in Paris and Pisa. On his return to Istanbul in 1843, he became the chief physician at Military Porte Hospital. The modernized School of Medicine provided him a convenient ground where he initiated Forensic Medicine courses in 1846. He could apply chloroform during surgery almost simultaneously with the modern medical centres in Europe. He contributed to the foundation of professional societies such as the Ottoman Red Crescent, the Imperial Society of Medicine, the Gazette Mйdicale d’Orient. He served for the composition of the Armenian National Constitution in collaboration with his colleagues. Dr. Servichen was in close contact with the Ottoman intellectuals, such as Midhat Pasha (1822-1884) who led the Ottoman constitutional movement. He was among the cadres who installed modern medical education in Turkey during the late Ottoman Empire that was undergoing social change towards modernization during the 19th century.

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