[GREEK PHYSICIAN OF THE SULTAN / PARIS IMPRINT] Physiologikai pragmateiai: Upo tou tis sunolou iatrikis didaktoros epitimou tautis kathigitou. Dilphoron epistimonon te kai philologon etairion te kai sullogon, imedapon te kai allodapon epitimou...

SPYRIDON MAVROGENIS, (The physician of Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire), (1817-?), Ek Tis Typographias "O Aesthir", Paris, [ca. 1890].

COMPLETE TITLE: [GREEK PHYSICIAN OF THE SULTAN / PARIS IMPRINT] Physiologikai pragmateiai: Upo tou tis sunolou iatrikis didaktoros epitimou tautis kathigitou. Dilphoron epistimonon te kai philologon etairion te kai sullogon, imedapon te kai allodapon epitimou melous i proedrou... Tis autou A. Megaleiotitos tou Soultanou.

Original wrappers. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14 cm). In Greek (Modern). 244 p. Stains on margins, spine is loosened and slight marginal chippings on papers. An untrimmed and unopened, and a good copy.

First and only Greek edition of this rare medical book printed in Paris,
on physiology by Mavrogenis who was one of the most influential professors of medicine at the Constantinople Medical School where he taught the course in internal medicine.

In this book, he clearly presents the state of the art in Physiology at the time, makes a clear distinction between Physiology and Psychology in terms of their methodologies, and accurately describes the then-current state of the "Brain - Mind Problem". (George Anogianakis, Reflections of Western Thinking on Nineteenth Century Ottoman Thought: A Critique of the 'Hard-Problem' by Spyridon Mavrogenis, a Nineteenth Century Physiologist).

Mavrogenis was a Phanariot Greek doctor who was the physician of Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. A member of the Mavrogenis family, his great-grandfather was Petros Mavrogenis. Theodore Blancard stated that the Mavrogenises or the Morozonis was of Venetian heritage. His father died when he was young, so he lived with his uncle, Ioannis Mavrogenis, who was living in Vienna as the chargé d'affairs of the local Ottoman mission. He had studied at the Chalcis Commercial School prior to living with his uncle and at a medical studies program in Vienna from 1835-1843. He initially remained in that city, working in a city-owned hospital as an auxiliary doctor. He came back to Constantinople in 1845.

Whilst back in Turkey, he became a doctor in the Artillery Hospital, and then, beginning in 1848, a professor at the Imperial Medical School. He initially taught hygiene, and later pathology. There he advocated for French as a medium of instruction. He held meetings of the Greek Literary Society, created in 1861, at his house.

OCLC locates only two copies (261976425) in Stanford University Lane Medical Library and Utrecht University Library, but with the copies "317 pages". Our presented copy has 244 pages with "Telos" [i.e. Finish] without missing pages.

-- Medicine Science Middle East Greeks Ottoman Empire