Fighting syphilis in the Ottoman Empire and the example of the County of Sinop

Syphilis that first affected Europe and then the whole world with the discovery of America; It is a disease transmitted both sexually and by direct contact with sick people and common items. It started to become an epidemic in the Ottoman Empire from the second half of the 19th century. The destructive effect of syphilis both in the society and in the army, with the state legal regulations; they had taken the necessary precautions to fight syphilis. The process that started in Istanbul entered a systematic process in Kastamonu province, one of the places where the disease is most intense. German Dermatologist Von During, who was invited to this country, besides the medical commissions, municipalities, mobile health committees, doctors and pharmacists, doctors trying to inform the public in newspapers and magazines; they struggled to prevent the disease. Syphilis, which is seen almost in many regions of the Ottoman Empire, was also affected by its effects to the capital and Sinop that is an important port city. The course of syphilis, which has been seen intensely in the Sinop county since the second half of the 19th century, and the measures taken have been tried to be explained in our study. First part of the thesis contains the occurance and effects of syphilis, the definition of the disease, its effect on the Ottoman Empire and the sanitary and legal measures taken, the measures taken against syphilis in the National Struggle and the Early Republic period. And second part of the thesis contains the geographical, historical and health structure of Sinop, the process of syphilis in Sinop, the hospitals and pharmacies opened and the appointee doctors and pharmacists.