Hashim Al-Witry Explained

Honorific Prefix:Sayyid Dr.
Hashim Al-Witry
Honorific Suffix:FRCP
Native Name:هاشم الوتري
Native Name Lang:Arabic
Office:4th Dean of the Royal Iraqi College of Medicine
Term Start:November 1937
Term End:November 1939
Predecessor:Ahmed Kadri
Successor:Saib Shawkat
Term Start2:June 1941
Term End2:December 1942
Predecessor2:Saib Shawkat
Successor2:Harry Sinderson
Term Start3:June 1946
Term End3:February 1953
Predecessor3:Harry Sinderson
Successor3:Jalal Al-Azzawi
Office4:President of the Iraq Academy
Term4:1938
Term Start5:1943
Term End5:1953
Office6:President of Bayt Al-Hikma
Term Start6:1953
Term End6:1958
Birth Date: 1893
Birth Place:Baghdad Vilayet
Death Place:Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq
Nationality:Iraqi
Citizenship:Kingdom of Iraq
Alma Mater:Imperial School of Medicine
Known For:Establishing medical education in Iraq.
Awards:Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (1948)
Module:
Child:yes
Profession:Physician, professor, researcher
Work Institutions:Royal Iraqi Hospital. Royal Iraqi College of Medicine. Journal of the Faculty of Medicine of Iraq. Iraqi Medical Research Institute.
Module2:
Embed:yes
Embed Title:Military career
Serviceyears:1919–1920
Rank:Captain
Nickname:Shaikh of Physicians

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] He was an elected member of the Iraqi Academy of Science and a second Vice President to the academy. He also re-established the House of Wisdom "Bayt Al-Hikma, Scientific institution intellectual" and was its president from 1953 to 1958.[5]

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),[6] [7] therefore inheriting him the honourable title "Sayyid" and its corresponding "Sharif" He used this honorific title on most of his paperwork and documentation.[8]

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.[9]

Sayyid Hashim Al-Witry completed his secondary education locally;[10] 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.

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. In 1925 he became in charge of the department of Internal Medicine until his retirement in 1959. He also established the first department of neuropathology within the hospital, and was also a delegate of the Iraqi International Society of Internal Medicine.[11]

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)[12] 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.[13] [14]

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.[15] [16]

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.[17] 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.[18] [19]

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:[20] [21] [22]

Publications!#!Title in English!Title in Arabic!Date!City
1Neurological diseasesالأمراض العصبية1945Baghdad
2Kidney diseaseالأمراض الكلوية1943Baghdad
3The history of medicine in Iraq with the emergence and progress of the Royal Iraqi Medical Collegeتاريخ الطب في العراق مع نشوء وتقدم الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية1939Baghdad
4First Aid Lessonsدروس الأسعافات ألطبية ألأولية1928Baghdad
5Clinical medicine lecturesمحاضرات في الطب السريري1945Baghdad
6Glossary of medical termsمعجم المصطلحات الطبية1941Baghdad
7Articles in ancient Arabic medicineمقالات في الطب العربي القديم1955Baghdad
8Summary of the book studies in the renal blood cycleملخص كتاب الدراسات في دورة الكلية الدموية1952Baghdad
9Health services in Iraqالخدمات الصحية في العراق1944Baghdad

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.

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/fellowship FRCP
  2. Web site: Hashim Al-Witry RCP Museum. 2021-02-26. history.rcplondon.ac.uk.
  3. Book: الدملوجي, سالم. الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية. 2002. AIRP. 978-9953-441-51-1. 180. ar. College of Medicine University of Baghdad, book by Salim Al-Damluji.
  4. 1961. Hashim Al-Witri, M.D., F.R.C.P.. The British Medical Journal. 1. 5230. 972. 20352954. 0007-1447.
  5. Web site: الاستاذ المرحوم الدكتور هاشم يحيى قاسم الوتري نقابة اطباء العراق. Hashim Yahya Qasim Al-Witry Iraqi Medical Association.. 2021-03-06. www.ima.org.iq.
  6. Book: السامرائي, يونس ابراهيم. القبائل والبيوتات الهاشمية في العراق. 1986. Y. I. Sāmarrāʼī. 23. ar. Hashemites Houses and Tribes in Iraq, book by Yunus Ibrahim Al-Samerai.
  7. Book: Baṣrī, Mīr. أعلام الادب في العراق الحديث. 1994. دار الحكمة،. 978-1-898209-46-1. 162, 327. ar. Notables of Literature in Modern Iraq.
  8. Book: الدملوجي, سالم. الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية. 2002. AIRP. 978-9953-441-51-1. 181. ar. College of Medicine University of Baghdad, book by Salim Al-Damluji.
  9. Book: إبراهيم, دروبي،. البغداديون: أخبارهم ومجالسهم : كتاب يبحث عن مجالس بغداد .... 2001. دار الشؤون الثقافية العامة "آفاق عربية"،. 78. ar. Baghdadis, their news and their councils.
  10. Book: ياسين. أعظمي، صباح. أعلام المجمع العلمي العراقي :: 2004-1947 م /. Aʻẓamī. Ṣabāḥ Yāsīn. 2005. الدار العربية للموسوعات،. 16. ar. Notables of the Iraqi Academy of Science.
  11. Web site: 22 May 2019. شيخ الأطباء الدكتور هاشم الوتري. Sheik of Physicians, Doctor Hashim Al-Witry. 2021-03-11. www.almadasupplements.com.
  12. Web site: College of Medicine University of Baghdad. 2021-02-26. en-US.
  13. Web site: Journal of the Faculty of Medicine. 2021-08-22. iasj.net.
  14. Web site: About the Journal Journal of the Faculty of Medicine Baghdad. 2021-08-22. iqjmc.uobaghdad.edu.iq.
  15. Web site: Alwitri: The father of modern neurosurgery in Iraq. 2021-02-26. Surgical Neurology International. en-US.
  16. Web site: English. 2021-02-26. Baghdad College of Medicine. en.
  17. Web site: Jones. Kevin. Start reading The Dangers of Poetry Culture, Politics, and Revolution in Iraq. 2021-08-26. Stanford University Press. en.
  18. Web site: محمد مهدي الجواهري – هاشم الوتري. 2021-08-21. الاتحاد العام للأدباء والكتاب في العراق.
  19. Book: سالم, دملوجي،. الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية: من خلال سيرة ذاتية. 2003. AIRP. 978-9953-441-51-1. ar.
  20. Book: الحجاج, عادل محمد علي الشيخ حسين. معجم مؤلفات الأعلام: يتناول ما صدر من مؤلفات لأعلام عرب معاصرين في معظم العلوم والفنون والآداب. 1 January 2012. Al Manhal. 9796500075372. 357. ar.
  21. Book: ياسين. أعظمي، صباح. أعلام المجمع العلمي العراقي :: 2004-1947 م /. Aʻẓamī. Ṣabāḥ Yāsīn. 2005. الدار العربية للموسوعات،. 17. ar. Notables of the Iraqi Academy of Sciences.
  22. Book: Witry, Hashim Al. Health Services in Iraq. 1944. New Publishers Iraq. en.
  23. Book: سالم, دملوجي،. الكلية الطبية الملكية العراقية: من خلال سيرة ذاتية. 2003. AIRP. 978-9953-441-51-1. 186. ar.