Dr. Hulusi Behçet (1889-1948) is a famous Turkish dermatologist. He was born in İstanbul on February 20, 1889.
His father was Ahmet Behçet and his mother was Ayşe Behçet who was also Ahmet’s cousin. After the Turkish
Republic was established and the “Family Name Law” was accept, his father Ahmet Behçet, who was among the
friends of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkish Republic, received private permission to use his
father’s name Behçet. Dr. Hulusi Behçet pursued his education at Gülhane Military Medical Academy. After he
had become a medical doctor, he specialized in dermatology and venereal disease at Gülhane Military Hospital
and he completed his specialization in 1914. His first observations on Behçet’s Disease started with a patient he
met between 1924-1925. Dr. Behçet with the symptoms of these three patients whom he had followed for years,
then decided that they were the symptoms of a new disease (1936). He published these cases in the Archives of
Dermatology and Veneral Disease. He died from a sudden heart attack on March 8, 1948. Today, this disease is
universally called Behçet’s Disease in medical literature.
Key Words: Dr. Hulusi Behçet, Behçet’s Disease
|
