Sayyed Mahmoud Hessaby (February 23, 1903, Tehran – September 3, 1992, Geneva) was an Iranian scientist, researcher and professor of University of Tehran. During the congress on "60 years of physics in Iran" the services rendered by him were deeply appreciated and he was called "the father of modern physics in Iran"Biography
Hessaby was born in Tehran to Abbas and Goharshad Hessaby. When he was seven, the family moved from Iran to Beirut in Lebanon where he attended school.
At seventeen he obtained his Bachelor's in Arts and Sciences from the American University of Beirut. Later he obtained his B.A. in civil engineering while working as a draftsman. He continued his studies and graduated from Engineering school of Beirut.
Hessaby was admitted to the École Superieure d'Electricité and in 1925 graduated while he was employed by the SNCF (French National Railway). He started working in the electric locomotive maintenance department. Hew was a scientific mind and continued his research in Physics at the Sorbonne University and obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from that University at the age of twenty-five.
Dr Hessaby was a Polymath,[3] having held five Bachelor's degrees in literature, civil engineering, mathematics, electric engineering and mining engineering. He continued lecturing at University of Tehran for three working generations, teaching seven generations of students and professors.
In 1947, he published his classic paper on "Continuous particles". Following this, in 1957 he proposed his model of "Infinitely extended particles".
As Hessaby wished, he was buried in his hometown, Tafresh.
Languages
Prof. Mahmoud Hessaby was fluent in five living languages: Persian, French, English, German and Arabic. He was also familiar with Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Pahlavi, Avestan, Turkish and Italian, which he used for etymological studies.
The Dr. Hessaby Museum
The Museum Of Dr. Hessaby is a collection of some of personal belongings and communications with various scientific cultural figures.
The museum has been established by his family, colleagues and students in order to value his 60 years of scientific, educational and cultural activities, and to set an example for young generation of Iran, students in particular, of a hard-working contemporary scientist, who despite his difficult childhood led a successful life and contributed greatly towards his country's progress by establishing many scientific, industrial, cultural, and research centers in Iran, including the University of Tehran, the first modern university in the country.
Every item of the museum is a reminder of a corner of his life and bears a valuable lesson of life.
The museum is situated in his personal home, north of Tehran, and visited daily by many visitors from different scientific, cultural, and educational institutes and organisations, free of charge.
Dr. Hessaby Foundation
The Dr. Hessaby Foundation was established by his son to continue all the various aspects of his work, highlighting his belief that giving priority to research and researchers is the basis of the scientific and industrial progress of a country.
Children
He had a son and a daughter. His son graduated in political Science from Melli University and is currently in charge of the Dr. Hessaby Institute.
Accomplishments
According to the Dr Hessaby Institute, essentially an institution run by his son, the following were some of his accomplishments:
- Founding the Highway Engineering school and teaching there from 1928
- Survey and drawing of the first coastal road-map between Persian Gulf ports
- Founding the "teachers college" and teaching there from 1928
- Construction of the first radio-set in Iran (1928)
- Construction of the first weather-station in 1931
- Installation and operation of the first radiology center in Iran in 1931
- Calculation and setting of Iranian time (1932)
- Founding the first private hospital in Iran (Goharshad Hospital) in 1933
- Writing the University carechair and founding Tehran University (1934)
- Founding the Engineering school in 1934 and acting as the dean of that school until 1936 and teaching there from then on
- Founding the faculty of science and acting as its dean from 1942 to 1948
- Commissioned for the dispossession of British Petroleum Company during the government of Dr Mossadegh and appointed as the first general manager of the National Iranian Oil Company
- Minister of Education in the cabinet of Dr Mossadegh from 1951 to 1952
- Opposing the contract with the consortium while in the Senate of Iran in 1954
- Opposing the membership of Iran in CENTO
- Founding the Telecommunication Center of Assad-Abad in Hamedan (1959)
- Writing the standards charter for the standards Institute of Iran (1954)
- Founding the Geophysical Institute of Tehran University (1961)
- Title of distinguished professor of Tehran University from 1971
- Founding the atomic research center and atomic reactor at Tehran University
- Founding the atomic Energy center of Iran, member of the UN scientific sub-committee of peaceful use of nuclear power, member of the international space committee (1981)
- Establishment of Iran's space research committee and member of the international space committee (1981)
- Establishment of the Iranian music society and founding the Persian language Academy
Awards and honours
- Father of Iranian Physics, By Iran's Physical Society
Key publications
- Hessaby M, Model of an Infinite Particle, Journal de Physique et le Radium 18 (5): 323-326 1957. Times Cited: 0 University of Tehran.
- Hessaby M, Theoretical Evidence for the Existence of a Light-Charged Particle of Mass Greater than That of the Electron, Physical Review, Vol. 73, Issue 9, p. 1128 (1948). Times Cited: 1 While at Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- Hessaby M, Continuous Particles, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 189–194 (1947). Times Cited: 0 University of Tehran and Princeton University
- Hessaby M, Continuous Particles, Proceedings of the American Physical Society, Minutes of the Meeting at Montreal, June 19–21, 1947,
Research and writing
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