Prof. Aimé Mouchet (1886-1941) and the decline of French cultural dominance in Turkish medical education

Şeref Etker

Anatomist and surgeon Aimé Mouchet arrived in Istanbul as a conscript officer of the French occupation forces at the end of the First World War. He was subsequently appointed professor of pediatric surgery and orthopaedics at the Medical Faculty of the Istanbul University in 1922, and Professor of Anatomy in 1925. Professor Aimé Mouchet was granted the privilege of instructing in French - the language which had dominated modern medical education in Turkey literally for a century.

Professor Mouchet was instrumental in the introduction of the French curriculum into the Medical Faculty in the academic year 1924-1925, where a basic sciences certificate was a prerequisite for subscription. Aimé Mouchet was also a founding member of the Turkish Institute of Anthropology, and the French editor of its bi-lingual (Turkish and French) journal launched in 1925.

Dr. Aimé Mouchet remained in Istanbul until the beginning of the Second World War, where he also served as the Chief of the French "Pasteur" hospital in the city. Professor Mouchet assisted in the definition of Turkish equivalents for the current Ottoman and French terms in anatomy. Dr.Mouchet's departure marked the decline of French medical culture in Turkey.

Key words: Aimé Mouchet, anatomy, anthropology, France, Istanbul University, medical education; Anahtar sözcükler: Aimé Mouchet, anatomi, antropoloji, Fransa, İstanbul Üniversitesi, tıp öğretimi.