David Cohen Nassy (born 1612) was a professional colonizer who started Jewish colonies in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. He had several nicknames: Cristovão de Távora (his

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

) and José Nunes da Fonseca (his

tradename A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

). He fled to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

(

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

) because of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He married Ribca (Maria) Drago and they had 12 children. David lived in Amsterdam and was authorized in 1662 by Abraham Cohen to go to

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

(now the capital of

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

). In 1664 he went to Cayenne with a great number of

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

s, but was refused to set up ''volksplantingen'' in Cayenne. David and his Jews travelled to Surinam and they settled at ''

Jodensavanne ''Jodensavanne'' (Dutch, "Jewish Savanna") was a Jewish plantation community in Suriname, South America, and was for a time the centre of Jewish life in the colony. It was established in the 1600s by Sephardi Jews and became more developed and wea ...

'' on the Surinam river. ---- David de Ishak Cohen Nassy, born in Suriname in 1747, had a wife called Esther. :''David e Ishak CohenNassy, a man of letters, a physician, slaveowner, and Jewish leader in the Dutch colony of Suriname in the late 18th century... He moved between the world of the Enlightenment and the ferment of colonial thought; how he viewed slavery; and what his relations were with the Africans and Indians of Suriname, especially with those Africans drawn into the Jewish religion.'' :''Nassy is the supposed author of the book ‘History of the Colony of Suriname. Compiled by a company of learned Jewish men there.’ From this in 1791 published document a wealth of information has been saved. ... ewas the owner of Plantation De Tulpenburg, between Torarica and The Guinee Friendship. "That’s a half day travel by boat to go to the synagogue, with one of those elegant tent boats you’ll see in the engravings. When you know one wasn’t allowed to work after Friday sunset, they were probably busy all Friday getting to Jodensavanne in time for the Sabbath. ...His plantation went bankrupt, he worked as a self-educated pharmacist, and he lost his dearly loved wife Esther in a smallpox epidemic. A love poem on her final resting-place says all of his feelings: "...your memory grows dearer without pain…" the inscription on Nassy’s grave is difficult to read. ...''

References

External links

www.suriname.nu David de Ishak Cohen Nassy
(in Dutch)
David de Isaac Cohen (1747-1806). ''Observations on the cause, nature, and treatment of the epidemic disorder, prevalent in Philadelphia'' (Philadelphia, 1793).

Regaining Jerusalem
at The Tablet {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen Nassy, David 1612 births 1685 deaths 17th-century Portuguese people 17th-century Sephardi Jews Dutch emigrants to Suriname Dutch people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Dutch Sephardi Jews Dutch slave owners European Sephardi Jews French Guianan Jews Jewish explorers Judaism and slavery People from Cayenne Portuguese Jews Surinamese Jews Surinamese people of Portuguese descent Surinamese planters