Person: Hunayn Ibn Ishaq
Hunayn ibn Ishaq was a Nestorian Christian mathematician who is most important as a translator, making Greek works available to the Islamic mathematicians.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Hunayn became skilled in languages as a young man, in particular learning Arabic at Basra and also learning Syriac.
- To continue his education Hunayn went to Baghdad to study medicine under the leading teacher of the time.
- However, after falling out with this teacher, Hunayn left Baghdad and, probably during a period in Alexandria, became an expert in the Greek language.
- Hunayn returned to Baghdad and established contact with the teacher with whom he had fallen out.
- Let us go back to a time before Hunayn was born and describe the events which would lead to a remarkeble period of scholarship.
- The first steps began to be taken which would allow Greek knowledge to spread through the Islamic empire, a process in which Hunayn was to play a major role.
- Harun al-Rashid died in 809, the year after Hunayn's birth, and there was an armed conflict between his two sons.
- It is thought that Hunayn, being more skilled in the Greek language than any of the other scholars in Baghdad, was on this expedition.
- There they worked with Hunayn and later also with Thabit ibn Qurra.
- Hunayn became a close friend of Muhammad Banu Musa although relations between some of the scholars was not good due to rivalry.
- Caliph al-Wathiq was succeeded as Caliph in 847 by al-Mutawakkil who appointed Hunayn to the post of chief physician at his court, a position he held for the rest of his life.
- Under both these Caliphs internal arguments and rivalry arose between the scholars in the House of Wisdom and Hunayn was most certainly involved in this rivalry.
- The rivalry could certainly become serious and at one point Hunayn had his library confiscated and he was imprisoned.
- Hunayn is important for the many excellent translations of Greek texts which he made into Arabic.
Born 808, Al-Hirah (now in Iraq). Died 873, Baghdad (now in Iraq).
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Ancient Arab, Ancient Greek, Origin Iraq
Mentioned in:
Epochs: 1
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
