Jacob Henriques de Castro Sarmento (6 May 1690 in
Bragança,
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 ...
– 14 September 1762 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
) was a Portuguese ''
estrangeirado
''Estrangeirados'' () were, in the history of Portugal, Portuguese intellectuals who, in the late 17th century and particularly in the 18th century, strove to introduce the ideas of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, as well as other ...
'', physician, naturalist, poet and
Deist
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...
.
Life
At the age of seventeen he entered the
University of Évora
The University of Évora (''Universidade de Évora'') is a public university in Évora, Portugal. It is the second oldest university in the country, established in 1559 by the cardinal Henry, and receiving University status in April of the same ...
to study philosophy, and later studied medicine at
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
, receiving his baccalaureate in 1717. In order to escape the persecutions of the
Portuguese Inquisition
The Portuguese Inquisition (Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of its king, John III. ...
, Henrique — so-called as a
Marrano
Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were Forced conversion#Spanish Inquisition, forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to Crypto-Judaism, practice Judaism i ...
— went into voluntary exile in London in 1720. There he continued his studies in medicine, physics, and chemistry, and passed his examinations in the theory and practice of medicine. He became a member of the
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
and was elected a
fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
of London in 1730, in recognition of his having introduced a new medicine for curing fevers. Castro Sarmento married Elizabeth, a non-Jew and converted to Anglicanism, although he was not baptized.
Career
Learning about
quinine
Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...
in London, Castro Sarmento developed a medicine known as
Água de Inglaterra
''Água de Inglaterra'' (“Water of England” or “English Water”) was an example of the 'secret remedies' that were in vogue in Portugal during the 18th century. The name was used for various pharmaceutical preparations produced by several m ...
, which became popular in Portugal where malaria was still widespread in the southern part of the country.
In 1731 he elaborated a plan for a botanical garden in
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
. Castro Sarmento corresponded with many scholars, among others with Prof.
João Mendes Sachetti Barbosa
João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below.
Kings
* ...
of
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, who reported to him the terrible
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
that destroyed the capital of Portugal in 1755, and with the Jesuit
Buenaventura Suárez
Buenaventura (Spanish, 'good fortune', and the name of Saint Bonaventure) or Buena Ventura may refer to:
People
*Buenaventura Báez (1812-1884), president of the Dominican Republic for five terms
* Buenaventura Bagaria (1882–1947), a Spanish sp ...
, who communicated to him his astronomical observations made in
Jesuit reduction
Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such red ...
of Paraguay. He was a strong proponent of
Newtonianism
Newtonianism is a philosophical and scientific doctrine inspired by the beliefs and methods of natural philosopher Isaac Newton. While Newton's influential contributions were primarily in physics and mathematics, his broad conception of the unive ...
and made efforts to integrate it with Jewish theology. He published ''Theorica verdadeira das marés, conforme à philosophia do incomparavel cavalhero Isaac Newton'' (Treatise on the true theory of tides, according to the philosophy of the incomparable gentleman Isaac Newton), the first book in Portuguese to advocate Newton ideas (London, 1737).
''De Rerum Natura''
/ref>
Literary Activity
The literary activity of Castro Sarmento began with a treatise on vaccination, ''Dissertatio in Novam, Tutam, ac Utilem Methodum Inoculationis seu Transplantationis Variolorum'' (London, 1721; German translation, Hamburg, 1722; Supplement, London, 1731; anonymously, Leyden). Other works are: ''Historia Medica Physico-Hist.-Mechanica'', part i, London, 1731; part ii, London 1735; ''Syderohydrologia ó Discurso das Aguas Mineraes Espadañas ou Chalibeadas'', London, 1736, identical with ''Da Uso, e Abuso das Minhas Agoas da Inglaterra'', London, 1756; and a Portuguese translation of the treatise of the surgeon Samuel Sharp: ''Surgical Operations, with Plates and Descriptions of the Instruments Used'' (London, 1744).
In recognition of his services to medicine the University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
awarded him a medical degree in July 1739. Castro Sarmento was also a poet and a preacher. He published ''Exemplar de Penitencia, Dividido en Tres Discursos Para ó dia Santo de Kipur'' (London, 1724); "Sermão Funebre as Memorias do . . . Haham Morenu a R. e Doutor David Neto" (London, 1728); and in Spanish, ''Extraordinaria Providencia Que el Gran Dios de Ysrael Uso con su Escogido Pueblo en Tiempo de su Mayor Afflicion por Medio de Mordehay y Ester Contra los Protervos Intentos del Tyrano Aman, Deducida de la Sagrada Escritura en el Sequinte Romance'' (London, 1728).
Notes
Bibliography
* Kayserling, Meyer, ''Biblioteca Española-Portugueza-Judaica'', p. 37
*—, in ''Monatsschrift'', vii. 393 et seq., viii. 161 et seq.
*Landau. ''Geschichte der jüdischen Ärzte'', p. 135 (who follows the inaccurate information of Carmoly)
*''Catalogue of Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition'', p. 49
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro Sarmento, Jacob de
1692 births
1762 deaths
People from Bragança, Portugal
University of Évora alumni
University of Coimbra alumni
Portuguese Anglicans
18th-century Sephardi Jews
18th-century Portuguese physicians
18th-century Jewish physicians of Portugal
18th-century Portuguese people
Portuguese Jews
Fellows of the Royal Society