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Averroes (Tunisia)

The Stamp

The stamp was issued on 12 December 1998 in Tunisia, the 800th anniversary of his death. The face value is 500 milim.

The Doctor

Abū l-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn Aḥmad Ibn Rušd (1126 - 1198), also known as Ibn Rushd and Latinised to Averroes, was a Spanish Muslim polymath who was born in Córdoba on 14 April 1126 into a powerful legal family.

Averroes was Royal Physician at the Almohad court in Marrakesh, and wrote a number of medical treatises. The most famous was al-Kulliyat fi al-Tibb or "The General Principles of Medicine", written around 1162. He also wrote on the works of Galen and Avicenna and a medical book entitled “On Treacle”.

As well as being a doctor, Averroes also served multiple terms as a judge in Seville and Córdoba. In 1182, he was appointed as court physician and the chief judge of Córdoba. He fell into disgrace in 1195 and was exiled back to Spain. However, he returned to royal favour shortly before his death on 11 December 1198 in Marrakesh.

Urology Connections

Averroes wrote on renal physiology and anatomy, and on the management of urolithiasis.

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