A famous Turkish dermatologist, Dr. Hulusi Behçet.

Abstract

Dr. Hulusi Behçet (1889-1948) is a famous Turkish dermatologist. He was born in Istanbul on February 20, 1889. His father was Ahmet Behçet and his mother Ayqse Behçet was also Ahmet's cousin. After the Turkish Republic was established and the "Family Name Law" was accepted, 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 Medical Academy 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 followed the symptoms of three patients whom he had had for years, then he 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.