The Doctors Of The Sick Man: The Role Of The Imperı-ial Medical Society (Cemiyet-I Tıbbiye-I Sâhâne) In Medical Modernization And Sanitary Cooperation In The Ottoman Empire (1856-1866)

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3422572

This thesis examines the establishment and principal endeavors of the Imperial Medical Society of Constantinople, also known as the Cemiyet-i Tıbbiye-i Şâhâne, in the first decade after its foundation. Founded by the physicians of the allied armies during the Crimean War, the Imperial Medical Society of Constantinople pioneered the transmission of modern medical knowledge to both Ottoman and European audience. As the first professional association in the Ottoman Empire, the Imperial Medical Society of Constantinople attracted notable physicians and epidemiologists from Europe and hosted the Ottoman physicians of Istanbul as a member. The physicians of the association published the medical and sanitary conditions of the empire through their media organ, Gazette Médicale d’Orient, which became an essential platform for the dissemination of novel medical knowledge. Through the medical expertise it had and the medical counseling it offered to the Ottoman policymakers, Cemiyet-i Tıbbiye-i Şâhâne has made a significant contribution to the institutionalization of modern medicine, professionalization of physicians and standardization of medical and sanitary practices in the Ottoman Empire.