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38th
congress -
Istanbul (Turkey)
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by J. S. G. Blair
Vice-President (Scotland)
Istanbul was wonderful. It is indeed a fabulous city, placed uniquely between western and eastern worlds, with timeless treasures, yet distinctly modern. We who were there could enjoy both the world of medical history within the lecture halls and the awe inspiring buildings and palaces of great empires without.
A sterling feature was the huge amount of support given by the Turkish government, the Ministry of State, but also by the Ministries of Culture, Health and Tourism, who organised and gave the dinners. And so every day and evening included a visit to one of the museums or palaces, with tempting food and enjoyable Turkish music, setting a standard it will be hard to emulate.
Sunday 1st was taken up with Board Meetings. The Executive Board meetings followed the usual lines, and in the afternoon the Administrative Council met, with national delegates present. The president tasked the vice presidents to study the society regulations and report back to him, and significant anomalies were discovered by them such as differing rules in French compared to the English version, which he later again tasked them to study further over the subsequent months. The welcome ceremony in the evening at 1700 hrs was in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, where the Minister of Culture, Professor Suat Caglayan addressed the delgates. The museum displayed many items of Medicine in Antiquity, prepared by Halil Ozek and colleagues, and the evening included a fine concert sponsored by the Culture Ministry and given by the Turkish Music orchestra. This splendid evening set the pattern.
Monday 2nd had an opening ceremony of welcome and inauguration by Dr Resat Dogru at 10 o'clock, followed by the first sessions of papers False historians, Turkish hospitals, Surgery of antiquity, Culture art and medicine, Alternative medicine, Nursing, Paleopathology, War and medicine, Women in medicine.
The president, Professor Jean Pierre Tricot, gave his address to delegates during lunch by reading his speech in French and English and detailing his ambitious project (Thesaurus Metableticus Historiae Medicinae). He wished it to be made known to everyone.
On Monday evening there was a concert on `European Music at the Ottoman Court', introduced by Emre Araci, by the Borusan Chamber orchestra in the Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall. On Tuesday 3rd we all enjoyed a magnificent cruise on the Bosphorus, with music and dinner.
Wednesday 4th, the day of external events, included a tour to the Topkapi Palace when two exhibitions specially made available for delegates were seen: The Healing Shirts of the Sultans, prepared by Dr Hülya Tezcan, and the Room of the Chief Imperial Physician, prepared by Ferda Albek. Lunch was in the famous Konyah Ottoman restaurant and in the afternoon a visit to another exhibition, of manuscripts selected from the botany, pharmaceutical, and veterinary collection at the Süleymaniye library. As striking an exhibition as any was that shown in the evening. It was opened by The Minister of Health, Associate Professor Osman Durmus.
During this afternoon, Drs J. Cule and J. Blair, and Professor J. Pearn, were interviewed by Turkish television and the news programme appeared next day. This was a History of Medicine seen through minitiature pictures, which Dr Sari had commissioned to be painted specially. This was in turn followed by a concert arranged by the Culture Ministry, played by a small orchestra of stringed instruments together with a military band clad in bright red uniforms, in the Military Museum and Culture Centre. The Whirling Dervishes showed the power of their dancing. Yet another excellent dinner followed.
The social finale was on the 5th.The Gala dinner had everything such an event required, and was enjoyed by ail. It was in the Çiragan Kempinkey Hotel, a former palace. As well as all these, provided by our Turkish hosts, were daily trips to sites in the old and modern parts of the city. But each day had its full quota of papers and presentations. Some were shorter than usual, allowing more contributors to have their say, and the themes were: Reappraisal of Medieval Medicine, History of Medical Philosophy, Health Politics, Legislation and Institutionalisation, Medicine in the Near East through History, with emphasis on Famous Anatolian Physicians and Pharmacists, the Relation between Turkish Medicine of the Eastern and Western Worlds in the past, Historical Sources of Complementary Medicine, and various other subjects of interest.437 papers were presented.
Exhibitions of 79 posters and other items were a special feature of this Congress, and the standard was high. Three posters won a reward giving them free attendance at the next Congress in Bari. They were regarded not only as perfect presentations with respect to their text and illustrations, but also as contributions to medical history. The winners were:
I am happy to have written this report at the special request of Professor Nil Sari. We have in common that we have shared the anxieties and the hard work such a congress demands of the organisers. I can say without hesitation that Nil has done a first class job, both in the logistic detail and the width of experiences and scholarship offered in the programme. Thanks too to Yesim Ulman, Congress Secretary, who answered all demands made on her. With them we thank Esin Kahya, Ali Haydar Bayat, Sevgi Sar, Oztan Oncel, Ibrahim Basagaoglu, Aysegul Erdemir and Ayten Altintas, the Executive Committee. Cnidus, the Organising Body, must not be forgotten, and we all felt things were safe in the skilled hands of Mrs Sibel Arican and her colleagues.