Jakob Eduard Polak
Encyclopedia
Jakob Eduard Polak was an Austrian physician who played an important role in introducing modern medicine in Iran.
He was one of the six Austrian teachers invited by Amir Kabir, the Persian chief minister, as the instructors of Dar ul-Funun, the first modern higher education institution in Iran. By his own account, he entered Iran on the 24th of November 1851, before the inauguration of the Dal al-fonun.
From 1851 to 1860, he taught medicine at Dar al-fonun. At the beginning he taught in French and used a translator. Soon, the incompetence of the translators motivated him to learn Persian. As a result, he learned Persian in six months, and then he thought his course in Persian.From 1855 to 1860, he served as personal physician of Naser-al-din Shah.
He published the result of his Persien experience in: Das Land und seine Bewohner (1865) belongs to the outstanding ethnographic works about 19th-century Iran.
He was one of the six Austrian teachers invited by Amir Kabir, the Persian chief minister, as the instructors of Dar ul-Funun, the first modern higher education institution in Iran. By his own account, he entered Iran on the 24th of November 1851, before the inauguration of the Dal al-fonun.
From 1851 to 1860, he taught medicine at Dar al-fonun. At the beginning he taught in French and used a translator. Soon, the incompetence of the translators motivated him to learn Persian. As a result, he learned Persian in six months, and then he thought his course in Persian.From 1855 to 1860, he served as personal physician of Naser-al-din Shah.
He published the result of his Persien experience in: Das Land und seine Bewohner (1865) belongs to the outstanding ethnographic works about 19th-century Iran.
External links
- Encyclopædia Iranica Website. Full-text access to the Encyclopædia as it currently exists.