Subhizade Abdulaziz


Subhizade Abdulaziz, also known as Subhizade Abdulaziz Effendi , was an Ottoman chief physician of the 18th century. A son of a certain historian named "Subhi", he worked at the court in Constantinople.
Abdulaziz was proficient in Turkish, Persian, French, and Latin. He translated the Persian works Asjar o asmar of 'Ala' al-Din 'Ali Shah Khwarazmi al-Bukhari, and Borhan al-kefaya of Ali ibn Mohammad al-Sharif al-Bakri into Turkish. He also wrote two works in Turkish on medicine, translations of works written by Hermann Boerhaave. One of these translations was completed in 1768 with the assistance of Thomas von Herbert, an Austrian interpreter, whereas the other one, Boerhaave's Aphorisma, was completed in 1771.
Apart from just translating Boerhaave's "ideas", Abdulaziz also tried to "reconcile and harmonize" these efforts of the Dutchman with the existing traditional Islamic medicine.
Later, Abdulaziz fell out with incumbent sultan Abdul Hamid I ; he was banished to Istanköy, where he lived until his death.