Jakob Eduard Polak (12 November 1818 – 8 October 1891) was an Austrian physician, born to a Jewish family from
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, who played an important role in introducing modern
medicine in Iran.
Life
Polak studied medicine in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
and
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. 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.
In 1885, he funded
Otto Stapf, a Viennese
botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
, to undertake a
botanical expedition
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially their anatomy, taxonomy, and ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field. "Plant" and "botany ...
to South- and Western Persia.
Franz Speta 2000, Warum Otto STAPF (1857–1933) Wien verlassen hat. Phyton (Horn, Austria) 40/1, 89-113
/ref> 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.
Works
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.
See also
* Dar ul-Funun
Bibliography
* Afsaneh GÄCHTER: ''Briefe aus Persien. Jacob E. Polaks medizinische Berichte.'' With an English Summary and Translation of Polak's „Letters from Persia“. New Academic Press, Vienna 2013, .
* Christoph WERNER:
Polak, Jakob Eduard
' In: ''Encyclopædia Iranica.'' 2009
* Obituary: Encyclopædia as it currently exists.
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Encyclopædia Iranica">Encyclopædia as it currently exists.
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1818 births
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, Jakob Eduard
1818 births
1891 deaths
Physicians from the Austrian Empire
Physicians from Austria-Hungary
Austrian Jews
Universities in Iran
Austrian expatriates in Iran
Medicine in Iran
People of Qajar Iran