Education
Polak studied Medicine in Prague and Vienna.
physician university professor
Polak studied Medicine in Prague and Vienna.
By his own account, he entered Iran on 24 November 1851, before the inauguration of the Dar ul-Fonun. From 1851 to 1860, he taught medicine at Dar ul-Fonun. In the beginning, he taught in French and used a translator.
Soon, the incompetence of the translators motivated him to learn Persian.
He learned Persian in six months, and then taught his course in Persian. In 1885, he funded Otto Stapf, a Viennese Botanist, to undertake a botanical expedition to Southand Western Persia.
This led to the discovery of numerous new species of plants. From 1855 to 1860, he served as personal physician of Naser-al-din Shah.
In this capacity he was succeeded by French physician Joseph Désiré Tholozan.