Jakob Eduard Polak | |
|---|---|
 Jakob Eduard Polak | |
| Born | 12 November 1818 Groß-Morzin/Mořina, Bohemia |
| Died | 8 October 1891 (aged 72) Vienna |
| Occupation | Austrian physician |
Jakob Eduard Polak (12 November 1818 – 8 October 1891) was an Austrian physician, born to a Jewish family from Bohemia, who played an important role in introducing modern medicine in Iran. [1]
Polak studied medicine in Prague and Vienna. He was one of the six Austrian teachers invited by Amir Kabir, the Persian chief minister, as the instructors of Dar ul-Fonun, the first modern higher education institution in Iran. By his own account, he entered Iran on 24 November 1851, before the inauguration of the Dar ul-Fonun.
From 1851 to 1860, he taught medicine at Dar ul-Fonun. In the beginning, he taught in French and used a translator. Soon, the incompetence of the translators motivated him to learn Persian. He learned Persian in six months, and then taught his course in Persian. [2]
In 1885, he funded Otto Stapf, a Viennese botanist, to undertake a botanical expedition to South- and Western Persia. [3] This led to the discovery of numerous new species of plants.
From 1855 to 1860, he served as personal physician of Naser-al-din Shah. In this capacity he was succeeded by French physician Joseph Désiré Tholozan.
Polak published his Persian experiences in: "Persien, das Land und seine Bewohner; Ethnograpische Schilderungen" (Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1865), which belongs to the outstanding ethnographic works about 19th-century Iran. [4]
His other works include:
Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine Greek ancestry active during the late Abbasid period. He is known for his Mu'jam ul-Buldān, an influential work on geography containing valuable information pertaining to biography, history and literature as well as geography.
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek Jahan Khanom and the third longest reigning monarch in Iranian history after Shapur II of the Sassanid dynasty and Tahmasp I of the Safavid dynasty. Nasser al-Din Shah had sovereign power for close to 51 years.
Dār ul-Funun is the oldest Western-style institute of higher education in Iran, established by the royal vizier to Nasereddin Shah in 1851.
Otto Stapf FRS was an Austrian born botanist and taxonomist, the son of Joseph Stapf, who worked in the Hallstatt salt-mines. He grew up in Hallstatt and later published about the archaeological plant remains from the Late Bronze- and Iron Age mines that had been uncovered by his father.
Alfred Jean-Baptiste Lemaire was a French military musician and composer. He is known for teaching in the music department of Dar ul-Funun during the reign of King Nasser-al-Din Shah, and for composing the first Iranian national anthem.
The history of the University of Tehran goes back to the days of Dar ul-Funun and the Qajar dynasty. The modern university as it is today was formally established in 1934.
The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai is a tomb located in Hamadan, Iran. Iranian Jews and Iranian Christians believe it houses the remains of the biblical Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai, and it is the most important pilgrimage site for Jews and Christians in Iran. There is no mention of it in either the Babylonian or Jerusalem Talmud, and the Iranian Jewish tradition has not been supported by Jews beyond Iran.
Aliqoli Mirza Qajar was an Iranian prince of Qajar dynasty and scholar who served as the first Minister of Science in Qajar Iran. He was the forty-seventh son of Fath-Ali Shah, King of Iran. Aliqoli Mirza was fascinated by the European Enlightenment and tried to spread its ideals in Iran. During the heyday of the Dar ul-Funun college, he was the headmaster of the school and played a key role in its survival.
Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani was an Iranian literary scholar, historian, translator, and man of letters.
Louis André Ernest Cloquet was a physician in Qajar Iran of French origin during the reigns of Mohammad Shah Qajar (1834–1848) and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1848–1896). He also served as the French minister to the court at Tehran from 1846 to 1855.
Cyrus Atabay was a Persian-German poet. He mostly wrote in German and also translated works of Persian literature into German. Atabay was decorated on numerous occasions for his literary efforts, including the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize in 1990 and the Hugo-Jacobi-Preis in 1957.
Izydor Borowski, also spelled Isidor Borowski, was a general in Qajar Iran of Polish origin. He is noted for his instrumental role in the modernization of the army.
Fereydoun Keshavarz was an Iranian physician and communist politician.
Danesh is the title of seven different Persian-language magazines published since 1882. This biweekly science magazine was the first one published in Tehran by the University of Dār al-fonūn in 1882.
Mirza Agha Tabrizi, was a 19th-century Iranian civil servant and writer. He is noted for being the author of four comedies, which, for a long period of time had erroneously been attributed to the diplomat and advocate of modernization Mirza Malkam Khan.
Martiros Khan Davidkhanian (1843-1905) was an Iranian general, philanthropist, professor, the Chief of Staff of the Persian Cossack Brigade, and the Commander of the Royal Guard of the Qajar Court. He taught Russian to Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the King of Iran.
Mohammad Tagahi Massoudieh was an Iranian musician, researcher, music writer and composer. He has been referred to as the "Father of Iranian Ethnomusicology".
Albert Joseph Gasteiger, was an Austrian nobleman and engineering officer. Born in Innsbruck, he became an instructor at the Dar ol-Fonun in Qajar Iran, as well as the manager of all civilian and military buildings at the behest of Iran's government from 1860 to 1888. He died in Bozen.
Ebrahim Monshizadeh was an Iranian political activist and the founder of the Punishment Committee. He was the father of the Iranian Nazi figure Davud Monshizadeh.
Mirza Mohammad-Ali Khan Shirazi was an Iranian diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 1851 to 9 February 1852. He also served as the ambassador to France in 1847, confirmed the Second Treaty of Erzurum with the Ottoman Empire in 1848, and from 29 December 1851 served as the head of the Dar ul-Funun, whose establishment marked the start of modern education in Iran.
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