Hasan Tahsini facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hasan Tahsini
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| Born | 7 April 1811 Ninat, Konispol, Ottoman Empire (modern Albania)
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| Died | 3 July 1881 (aged 70) |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Citizenship | Ottoman |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomy, psychology |
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Hoxhë Hasan Tahsini (born April 7, 1811 – died July 3, 1881) was an important Albanian scholar. He was an expert in many fields. These included astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. He was also a religious scholar.
Hasan Tahsini was the very first head of Istanbul University. He was also one of the people who helped start the Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights. Many people consider him one of the most famous scholars of the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Hasan Tahsini was born in 1811. His village was called Ninat, in what is now Albania. At that time, it was part of the Ottoman Empire. His father, Osman Efendi Rushiti, was also a religious scholar.
When Hasan was young, he worked as a tutor. He taught the sons of Hayrullah Efendi. This man was the Minister of Education. Later, the Minister sent Tahsini to Paris, France. He worked at the Ottoman school there. He taught Turkish and religious studies. He also served as the imam (religious leader) for the Ottoman embassy. At the same time, he studied mathematics and natural sciences at the University of Paris. He stayed and studied in Paris for twelve years.
Leading Istanbul University
In 1870, Hasan Tahsini became the first rector (head) of the new Istanbul University. He taught many subjects there. These included physics, astronomy, and psychology. The government chose him for this role. They hoped he could combine Western science with traditional Islamic ideas.
However, Tahsini's scientific work was very modern. Some traditional scholars did not like his ideas. They started to criticize him. This happened when he did an experiment for his students. He wanted to show them what a vacuum was. He put a pigeon under a glass bell. Then, he removed the air from the bell. The pigeon sadly suffocated. This proved his theory about vacuums.
Some conservative people thought this experiment was like magic. They said he was using witchcraft. Because of this, he was removed from the university. He was also not allowed to teach anymore. The university even closed for a while. This was because another professor, Jamal-al-Din Afghani, supported Tahsini's scientific ideas.
Important Works and Contributions
Hasan Tahsini wrote the first book in Turkish about psychology. It was called Psychology or the Science of Soul. This book was very modern for its time. It was the first book to use the word "psychology" in its title.
He also wrote the first Turkish book about modern astronomy. This was also the first popular science book in Turkish. He translated another important book into Turkish. It was called Loi Naturelle by Constantin François de Chassebœuf.
Tahsini was a key member of the Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights. This group started in Istanbul in 1877. The Committee asked Tahsini and other scholars to create an alphabet for the Albanian language. These scholars included Sami Frashëri, Pashko Vasa, and Jani Vreto. By March 19, 1879, they approved an alphabet with 36 letters. Most of these letters were based on the Latin alphabet. Tahsini worked closely with Sami Frashëri on this project. Frashëri was a very important person in the Albanian National Awakening. Tahsini believed the new alphabet was designed so that each letter could be written with the fewest hand movements.
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