Mahmoud Hessaby

Sayyed Mahmoud Hessaby

Dr Sayyed Mahmoud Hessaby
Born 23 February 1903(1903-02-23)
Tehran, Iran
Died 3 August 1992(1992-08-03) (aged 89)
at Geneva Cardiac Hospital and buried in Tafresh, Iran
Nationality Iranian
Fields Physics, Civil Engineering and adjacent fields
Alma mater American University of Beirut, Sorbonne, École Superieure d'Electricité
Known for Founder of University of Tehran, Inventing, Légion d'honneur, “Continuous particles” or “Infinitely extended particles” theory, Education Minister in Iran, founding father of modern Physics and Engineering in Iran and other national contributions

Sayyed Mahmoud Hessaby (in Persian سید محمود حسابی - alternative spellings: Mahmood Hesabi) (February 23, 1903, Tehran – September 3, 1992, Geneva) was a prominent Iranian scientist, researcher and distinguished professor of University of Tehran. During the congress on "60 years of physics in Iran" the services rendered by him were deeply appreciated and he was called "the father of modern physics in Iran". He was the only Iranian student of Albert Einstein.[1][2]

Contents

Biography

Hessaby was born in Tehran to Abbas and Goharshad Hessaby. When he was seven, the family moved from Iran to Beirut in Lebanon where he attended school.

At seventeen he obtained his Bachelor's in Arts and Sciences from the American University of Beirut. Later he obtained his B.A. in civil engineering while working as a draftsman. He continued his studies and graduated from Engineering school of Beirut.

Hessaby was admitted to the École Superieure d'Electricité and in 1925 graduated while he was employed by the SNCF (French National Railway). He started working in the electric locomotive maintenance department. Hew was a scientific mind and continued his research in Physics at the Sorbonne University and obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from that University at the age of twenty-five.

Dr Hessaby was a Polymath[3], having held five Bachelor's degrees in literature, civil engineering, mathematics, electric engineering and mining engineering. He continued lecturing at University of Tehran for three working generations, teaching seven generations of students and professors.

In 1947, he published his classic paper on "Continuous particles". Following this, in 1957 he proposed his model of "Infinitely extended particles".

As Hessaby wished, he was buried in his hometown, Tafresh.

Languages

Prof. Mahmoud Hessaby was fluent in five living languages: Persian, French, English, German and Arabic. He was also familiar with Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Pahlavi, Avestan, Turkish and Italian, which he used for etymological studies.

Dr Hessaby Museum

The Museum Of Dr Hessaby is a collection of some of personal belongings and communications with various scientific cultural figures.

The museum has been established by his family, colleagues and students in order to value his 60 years of scientific, educational and cultural activities, and to set an example for young generation of Iran, students in particular, of a hard-working contemporary scientist, who despite his difficult childhood led a successful life and contributed greatly towards his country's progress by establishing many scientific, industrial, cultural and research centers in Iran among which one can name Tehran University, the first modern university in the country.

Every item of the museum is a reminder of a corner of his life and bears a valuable lesson of life.

Dr Hessaby Museum is situated in his personal house, north of Tehran, and visited daily by many visitors from different scientific, cultural and educational institutes and organisations, free of charge.

Dr Hessaby Foundation

Dr Hessaby Foundation, was established to continue all different aspects of his work, highlighting his belief that giving priority to research and researchers is the basis of scientific and industrial progress of a country.

Children

He had a son and a daughter. His son graduated in engineering and is currently in charge of Dr Hessaby Institute.

Accomplishments

According to the Dr Hessaby Institute, the following were some of his accomplishments:

Awards and honours

Key publications

APS

Research and writing

His research and writings included:[3]

Cultural

Scientific

Books

Other

See also

References

Resources

External links