Hulusi Behçet (20 February 1889 - 8 March 1948, Istanbul) was a Turkish dermatology specialist and scientist.
In 1937 he became the first scientist to describe a blood-vessel inflammation (vasculitis) disease that is today known by his own name, Behçet's disease.
Early years
Having had a difficult childhood, Behçet lost his mother at a very young age and was raised by his grandmother. Because of his father's affairs in Damascus, he completed his primary education in Damascus, which at that time was within the Ottoman Empire. He learned French, German, and Latin. He received his medical education at the Darülfünun Faculty of Medicine. After graduating in 1910, he specialized for four years in the field of dermatology and sexually transmitted diseases.
Career as a physician
During World War I (1914-1918) he worked as a specialist in dermatology and venereal diseases at the military hospital in Edirne. After the war (between 1918 and 1919), he went first to Budapest and then to Berlin in order to develop his medical knowledge. He had the opportunity to meet many renowned colleagues.
After returning to Turkey he began to work in private practice; he first became chief physician at the Hasköy Hospital for Sexual Diseases (Golden Horn), then transferred to the Vakıf Gureba Hospital. He also held a professorship at this hospital, which at that time was part of the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine.
Works
In 1933, Istanbul University had been newly founded out of the old Dar-ül Funun. During this reform period he founded, at Istanbul University, the dermatology clinic then called the Clinic of Skin Diseases and Syphilis, and was elected professor. Hulusi Behçet was the first person to receive the title of professor in Turkish academia. A prolific scientist in the field of dermatology from the earliest years of his profession, he took part in many national and international congresses with original papers, and his articles were published in many scientific journals.
The famous German pathologist Prof. Philipp Schwartz said of him, "Behçet is a world-renowned scientist, but not in Turkey," and added: "He is always presenting his discoveries abroad; that is why you cannot find him in Turkey."
To help educate the new generations, Behçet translated numerous articles into Turkish, and, in order to establish relations with countries as distant as Korea, he published original case reports in international compilations.
From 1922 onward he carried out studies on syphilis and published many international articles on the diagnosis, treatment, hereditary features, serology, and social aspects of syphilis. Leishmaniasis (Oriental sore) was another disease that Dr. Behçet worked on from 1923 onward. He published many articles about it and was successful in treating it with diathermy. In one case of leishmania, he was the first to describe the "nail sign" that becomes visible when the crust is lifted. Part of his published works dealt with parasitosis. In 1923 he identified the agents of "gale cereal - scabies?" in Turkey.
He was also a pioneer in publishing in the development of Turkish medicine, and in 1924 he was in charge of the first dermato-venereology journal in Turkey, titled "Turkish Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology."
Private life
In 1923, which was also the founding year of the Republic of Turkey, he married Refika Hanım, the sister of one of his patients and the daughter of Suat Bey, a famous diplomat who at one time served as ambassador in Paris (and who took the surname Davaz under the Surname Law). Hulusi Behçet had a daughter named Güler.
His books
Behçet H. Frengi Dersleri (Lectures on Syphilis). Istanbul, Akşam Matbaası, 324 pp, 1936.
Behçet H. Klinikte ve Pratikte Frengi Teşhisi ve Benzeri Deri Hastalıkları (Diagnosis of Syphilis and Similar Skin Diseases in Clinic and Practice). 450 pp. (plus 130 pp. of illustrations), Istanbul, Kenan Basımevi, 1940.
Some of his monographs
Behçet H, Hodara M. Etude histologique expérimentale sur le sublimé appliqué sur la peau normale. Monograph, 55 pp., Keçecian Matb., Istanbul, 1921.
Behçet H, Hodara M. Recherches sur la pathogénie de la dermatose produites par les poussiéres d'orge altérées. Monograph, Istanbul, 1921.
Behçet H, Hodara M, Süreyya. Memleketimizde Arpa Uyuzlarının Menşei Hakkında Etüdler (Studies on the Origin of Barley Scabies in Our Country). Monograph, 58 pp., Istanbul, 1927.
Behçet H. Frengi Niçin Ayıp Görülür, Frengiyi Neden Gizli Tutmak Adet Olmuştur. Tabiatta Ayıp Denilen Hastalık Var mıdır? (Why Is Syphilis Regarded as Shameful, Why Has It Become Customary to Keep Syphilis Secret. Is There a Disease Called Shameful in Nature?), Monograph, 13 pp., Belediye Basımevi, Istanbul, 1935.
Behçet H. Frengi tarihi ve geçirdiği devirler (The History of Syphilis and the Periods It Has Passed Through). Üniv. Haft. Ist. Üniv. Yayın., No: 47, Ist. 1937.
Saylan, Türkan (December 1997). 38. Yonsei Medical Journal. pp. 81–86. ISBN 978-3-540-66761-2. Life Story of Dr. Hulusi Behçet
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia: tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org