Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar)

أبو مروان عبد الملك بن زهر

1094 CE · 487 AH† – 1162 CE · 557 AH †

† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.

Seville

Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Zuhr (1094–1162), known in Latin as Avenzoar, a Sevillian physician and poet of the Banu Zuhr, a family that produced six generations of physicians. He learnt medicine from his father Abu al-Ala, served the Almoravids and was jailed at Marrakesh in 1140; after the Almohad conquest he returned to Seville and devoted himself to practice. His Kitab al-Taysir ('Book of Simplification Concerning Therapeutics and Diet') became one of the most influential practical medical works of the Middle Ages; he is remembered for his rational, empirical method and for testing the tracheotomy on a goat before applying it to humans.