IN THE MEMORY OF THE LATE PROFESSOR CHARLES OBERLING, THE FIRST DEAN OF FACULTY OF MEDICINE IN TEHRAN

The first modern higher educational institution in Iran, named the Dar al- Fonun (i.e., House of Techniques), was founded in 1851. It had also a medical department and served as a core for Tehran Medical School establishment later on. The foundation of the Dar al-Fonun was the result of Amir Kabir’s efforts, the reform-minded Chief Minister of fourth King of Qajar Dynasty, Naser ad-Din Shah. Unfortunately, Amir Kabir was assassinated thirteen days after official opening of the Dar al- Fonun. Then, 83 years later, in 1934, the cornerstone of the first modern university of Iran, Tehran University, was laid and a new era in education was ushered in. The faculty of medicine was the first and most important faculty to be established, but it faced heightened problems at the beginning. So, the Iranian government in December 1939 asked the French authorities to send an eminent medical expert to Iran in order to reorganize the Faculty of Medicine of Tehran University. The French officials introduced Professor Charles Oberling, and he came to Iran in 1939.