Agop Handanyan

Dr. Agop Handanyan (born 1834, Diyarbakir, Ottoman Empire - died October 30, 1899 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire) was a respected physician, writer, translator, professor, and author of the first forensic science book in Ottoman Turkey. He was of Armenian descent.

Background
Agop Handanyan was born in Diyarbakir and moved to Istanbul at the age of five. He first studied at the local Armenian in Scutari, the Asiatic part of Constantinople. After graduating from the Lyceum, he pursued a medical career. In 1860, he finished his studies at the, which was the first medical school in the Ottoman Empire. in 1878, he became the professor of the Military Medical Academy after Serovpe (Servitchen) Vitchenian, an Ottoman Armenian professor, decided to step down. He later worked for the general archives of the Assembly of Civil Medical School.

Translations
Having known French very well, Agop Handanyan completed the important task of translating works of French medical books into Ottoman Turkish. He first translated books of Joseph Briand and Ernest Chaudé from the French into English in 1875. His then wrote the Tıbb-ı Kanunî in 1877, which was a translation from the French. This was followed by a toxicology study called Kimya-yi Kanunî in 1885. These books are considered the first medical books in Turkish history.