Hashim Al-Witry

Sayyid Dr.
Hashim Al-Witry
FRCP
هاشم الوتري
4th Dean of the Royal Iraqi College of Medicine
In office
November 1937 – November 1939
Preceded byAhmed Kadri
Succeeded bySaib Shawkat
In office
June 1941 – December 1942
Preceded bySaib Shawkat
Succeeded byHarry Sinderson
In office
June 1946 – February 1953
Preceded byHarry Sinderson
Succeeded byJalal Al-Azzawi
President of the Iraq Academy
In office
1938
In office
1943–1953
President of Bayt Al-Hikma
In office
1953–1958
Personal details
Born1893 (1893)
Baghdad Vilayet
Died17 January 1961(1961-01-17) (aged 67–68)
Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq
CitizenshipKingdom of Iraq
NationalityIraqi
Alma materImperial School of Medicine
Known forEstablishing medical education in Iraq.
AwardsFellow of the Royal College of Physicians (1948)
NicknameShaikh of Physicians
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician, professor, researcher
FieldClinical Medicine
InstitutionsRoyal Iraqi Hospital. Royal Iraqi College of Medicine. Journal of the Faculty of Medicine of Iraq. Iraqi Medical Research Institute.
ResearchNeurology and internal medicine
Military career
AllegianceOttoman Empire
Years of service1919–1920
RankCaptain

Sayyid Hashim Al-Witry M.D.[1] (1893 – 17 January 1961) (Arabic: الاستاذ الدكتور السيد هاشم الوِتْرِي) was an Iraqi physician and author born in Baghdad.[2][3] He was one of the founders of the Royal College of Medicine of Iraq in which he worked in as a professor and dean. He was a key contributor to the establishment of the Iraq Academy, of which he was vice president then president for two periods: 1938; and 1943 to 1953.[4][5] He was an elected member of the Iraqi Academy of Science and a second Vice President to the academy.[6] He also re-established the House of Wisdom "Bayt Al-Hikma, Scientific institution intellectual" and was its president from 1953 to 1958.[7]

Background

Sayyid Hashim Al-Witry was born in Baghdad in 1983 into a family of a noble Alids descend and Hashemites lineage known by "House of Al-Witry" (Arabic: آل ألوتري),[8][9] therefore inheriting him the honourable title "Sayyid" and its corresponding "Sharif" He used this honorific title on most of his paperwork and documentation.[10]

His father was Sayyid Yahya Al-Witry, scholar and Judge in Baghdad, he had a council in Al-Khulafa Mosque known by "House of Al-Witry Council" (Arabic: مجلس آل ألوتري) which he led until his death in 1922; it was then led by his son Sayyid Mahmoud Al-Witry who died in 1947 and was subsequently led by Hashim Al-Witry.[11]

Sayyid Hashim Al-Witry completed his secondary education locally;[12] since the Middle East was under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire, he proceeded for his medical education to Istanbul and he graduated from the Imperial School of Medicine in 1918, currently known as the Haydarpaşa Campus of Marmara University and commissioned as a captain in the medical service.[5]

Career

For a short while, Al-Witry worked as a physician in hospitals in Istanbul. After his graduation and in 1919, he went to Syria and worked as a captain in charge of the medical group sent to Mecca.

Early experience

After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Iraqi Monarchy he returned to Iraq and joined the cadre of physicians of the Royal Iraqi Hospital in 1920.[2] In 1925 he became in charge of the department of Internal Medicine until his retirement in 1959.[12] He also established the first department of neuropathology within the hospital, and was also a delegate of the Iraqi International Society of Internal Medicine.[4]

Royal College of Medicine of Iraq

Al-Witry played a prominent part at establishing the first medical college in Iraq, he founded the Royal College of Medicine of Iraq in 1927, alongside Sir Harry C. Sinderson Pasha (1891–1974)[13] and was the dean of the faculty for many years. He also founded the Journal of the Faculty of Medicine of Iraq in 1936 and remained its chief editor until his death.[14][15]

In 1943 he announced the establishment of higher specialised academic education within the college and providing higher qualifications i.e. MD, MS in general operation and PhD in main science.[2][16][17]

Honouring

In 1949, Al-Witry was elected to be a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, under a unique regulation that only members of the college who have distinguished themselves in the practice of medicine, or in the pursuit of General Science or Literature.[18] The Iraq Academy hosted a ceremony honouring his achievement and among the invitees was the prominent poet Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri who recited a panegyric for al-Witri and praised his knowledge, his care for patience, and patriotic stances.[19][20]

Publications and researches

Alongside his educational and medical career, Al-Witry researched and publishing many books and articles related to medical studies involving first aid, clinical medicine, neurology, medicine history in Iraq, most of them are still being used in the medical teaching in Iraq; among his publication are as follows:[21][6][22]

Publications
# Title in English Title in Arabic Date City
1 Neurological diseases الأمراض العصبية 1945 Baghdad
2 Kidney disease الأمراض الكلوية 1943 Baghdad
3 The history of medicine in Iraq with the emergence and progress of the Royal Iraqi Medical College تاريخ الطب في العراق مع نشوء وتقدم الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية 1939 Baghdad
4 First Aid Lessons دروس الأسعافات ألطبية ألأولية 1928 Baghdad
5 Clinical medicine lectures محاضرات في الطب السريري 1945 Baghdad
6 Glossary of medical terms معجم المصطلحات الطبية 1941 Baghdad
7 Articles in ancient Arabic medicine مقالات في الطب العربي القديم 1955 Baghdad
8 Summary of the book studies in the renal blood cycle ملخص كتاب الدراسات في دورة الكلية الدموية 1952 Baghdad
9 Health services in Iraq الخدمات الصحية في العراق 1944 Baghdad

Personal life

He married Sharifa Al-Witry and had a son named Saad Al-Witry, a neurosurgeon who graduated from the Royal Iraqi College of Medicine in 1956 and founded the first neurosurgery department in Iraq in 1970.[2][16]

Al-Witry died on 17 January 1961. He was buried in Ghazali Cemetery.[23]

References

  1. ^ FRCP
  2. ^ a b c d "Hashim Al-Witry | RCP Museum". history.rcplondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  3. ^ الدملوجي, سالم (2002). الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية [College of Medicine University of Baghdad, book by Salim Al-Damluji] (in Arabic). AIRP. p. 180. ISBN 978-9953-441-51-1.
  4. ^ a b "شيخ الأطباء الدكتور هاشم الوتري" [Sheik of Physicians, Doctor Hashim Al-Witry]. www.almadasupplements.com. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Hashim Al-Witri, M.D., F.R.C.P." The British Medical Journal. 1 (5230): 972. 1961. ISSN 0007-1447. JSTOR 20352954.
  6. ^ a b ياسين, أعظمي، صباح; Aʻẓamī, Ṣabāḥ Yāsīn (2005). أعلام المجمع العلمي العراقي :: 2004-1947 م / [Notables of the Iraqi Academy of Sciences] (in Arabic). الدار العربية للموسوعات،. p. 17.
  7. ^ "الاستاذ المرحوم الدكتور هاشم يحيى قاسم الوتري | نقابة اطباء العراق" [Hashim Yahya Qasim Al-Witry | Iraqi Medical Association.]. www.ima.org.iq. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  8. ^ السامرائي, يونس ابراهيم (1986). القبائل والبيوتات الهاشمية في العراق [Hashemites Houses and Tribes in Iraq, book by Yunus Ibrahim Al-Samerai] (in Arabic). Y. I. Sāmarrāʼī. p. 23.
  9. ^ Baṣrī, Mīr (1994). أعلام الادب في العراق الحديث [Notables of Literature in Modern Iraq] (in Arabic). دار الحكمة،. pp. 162, 327. ISBN 978-1-898209-46-1.
  10. ^ الدملوجي, سالم (2002). الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية [College of Medicine University of Baghdad, book by Salim Al-Damluji] (in Arabic). AIRP. p. 181. ISBN 978-9953-441-51-1.
  11. ^ إبراهيم, دروبي، (2001). البغداديون: أخبارهم ومجالسهم : كتاب يبحث عن مجالس بغداد ... [Baghdadis, their news and their councils] (in Arabic). دار الشؤون الثقافية العامة "آفاق عربية"،. p. 78.
  12. ^ a b ياسين, أعظمي، صباح; Aʻẓamī, Ṣabāḥ Yāsīn (2005). أعلام المجمع العلمي العراقي :: 2004-1947 م / [Notables of the Iraqi Academy of Science] (in Arabic). الدار العربية للموسوعات،. p. 16.
  13. ^ "College of Medicine University of Baghdad". Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Journal of the Faculty of Medicine". iasj.net. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  15. ^ "About the Journal | Journal of the Faculty of Medicine Baghdad". iqjmc.uobaghdad.edu.iq. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Alwitri: The father of modern neurosurgery in Iraq". Surgical Neurology International. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  17. ^ "English". Baghdad College of Medicine. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  18. ^ Jones, Kevin. "Start reading The Dangers of Poetry | Culture, Politics, and Revolution in Iraq". Stanford University Press. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  19. ^ "محمد مهدي الجواهري – هاشم الوتري". الاتحاد العام للأدباء والكتاب في العراق. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  20. ^ سالم, دملوجي، (2003). الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية: من خلال سيرة ذاتية (in Arabic). AIRP. ISBN 978-9953-441-51-1.
  21. ^ الحجاج, عادل محمد علي الشيخ حسين (1 January 2012). معجم مؤلفات الأعلام: يتناول ما صدر من مؤلفات لأعلام عرب معاصرين في معظم العلوم والفنون والآداب (in Arabic). Al Manhal. p. 357. ISBN 9796500075372.
  22. ^ Witry, Hashim Al (1944). Health Services in Iraq. New Publishers Iraq.
  23. ^ سالم, دملوجي، (2003). الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية: من خلال سيرة ذاتية (in Arabic). AIRP. p. 186. ISBN 978-9953-441-51-1.