The Most Famous
PHYSICIANS from Tunisia
This page contains a list of the greatest Tunisian Physicians. The pantheon dataset contains 726 Physicians, 1 of which were born in Tunisia. This makes Tunisia the birth place of the 48th most number of Physicians behind Belarus, and Azerbaijan.
Top 2
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Tunisian Physicians of all time. This list of famous Tunisian Physicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Constantine the African (1020 - 1087)
With an HPI of 57.08, Constantine the African is the most famous Tunisian Physician. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.
Constantine the African, OSB (Latin: Constantinus Africanus; died before 1098/1099, Monte Cassino) was a physician who lived in the 11th century. The first part of his life was spent in Ifriqiya and the rest in Italy. He first arrived in Italy in the coastal town of Salerno, home of the Schola Medica Salernitana, where his work attracted attention from the local Lombard and Norman rulers. Constantine then became a Benedictine monk, living the last decades of his life at the abbey of Monte Cassino. There is some debate about his birth and family religion, although it is well known that he ended his life as a monk at the Latin Christian Abbey of Monte Cassino, in southern Italy. This religious controversy suggested that he might born as Muslim, and after migration converted to catholic Christian, or he might born as Christian within an Arabic-speaking family. The native language of Constantine the African was Arabic. He was also fluent in Greek, Latin, and other languages, the skills he acquired during his extensive travels. His journey included Egypt, Syria, India, Ethiopia, and Persia. He was well-versed in medical knowledge before his arrival to Salerno in Italy where he joined the abbey of Monte Cassino south of Rome in 1077. It was in Italy where Constantine compiled his vast opus, mostly composed of translations from Arabic sources. He translated into Latin, books of the great masters of Arabic medicine: Razes, Ibn Imran, Ibn Suleiman, and Ibn al-Jazzar; these translations are housed today in libraries in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and England. They were used as textbooks from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century.
2. Tewhida Ben Sheikh (1909 - 2010)
With an HPI of 50.47, Tewhida Ben Sheikh is the 2nd most famous Tunisian Physician. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Tewhida Ben Sheikh (Arabic: توحيدة بن الشيخ; also Tawhida Ben Cheikh, Taouhida Ben Cheikh) (January 2, 1909 in Ras Jebel – December 6, 2010) was the first modern Tunisian woman to become a physician. She was also a pioneer in women's medicine, in particular contraception and abortion access.
People
Pantheon has 2 people classified as Tunisian physicians born between 1020 and 1909. Of these 2, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Tunisian physicians include Constantine the African, and Tewhida Ben Sheikh. As of April 2024, 1 new Tunisian physicians have been added to Pantheon including Tewhida Ben Sheikh.
