Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

Moses Curiel (1620-1697), in Dutch Mozes Curiël, alias Jeronimo Nunes da Costa, was a

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jewish nobleman, diplomat, and wealthy merchant, who traded in diamonds, sugar and tobacco. Curiel was born in Florence; he was the eldest son of

Jacob Curiel Dom Jacob Curiel (26 September 1587 - 3 April 1664), known by his alias Dom Duarte Nunes da Costa, was a Sephardi Jewish merchant, diplomat, and nobleman. Curiel was educated at the University of Coimbra and the University of Bologna. In 1618 he ...

, alias Duarte Nunes da Costa. In 1627 the family moved to Hamburg. He was sent to be educated at Protestant

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

Heidelberg, Germany Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. In 1642 he moved to

Amsterdam, the Netherlands 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 ...

and served as Agent to the Portuguese Crown from 1645 until his death. In 1654 he lived on

Sint Antoniesbreestraat The Sint Antoniesbreestraat ("St. Anthony's Broad Street") is a street in the centre of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The street runs south from Nieuwmarkt square to the Sint Antoniesluis sluice gates, where it continues as the Jodenbreestraat. ...

and married Rabecka Abbas. During his time in Amsterdam he generously patronised Hebrew scholarship. He was a major contributor to the Portuguese Synagogue, Amsterdam, built in 1675. From around 1687 he lived along the

Nieuwe Herengracht The Nieuwe Herengracht () is a canal in Centrum district of Amsterdam. The canal is an extension of the Herengracht that runs between the Amstel and the Scharrebiersluis (lock) leading to the Schippersgracht from the Entrepotdok. It is in the Pla ...

where he had bought two plots in the year before. He was a close friend of William of Orange and housed him in Amsterdam on more than one occasion. The Curiel family is widely believed to have been 'one of the richest and most important families in the Sephardic Diaspora in northwest Europe.' In 1984, the historian

Jonathan Israel Jonathan Irvine Israel (born 26 January 1946) is a British writer and academic specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies a ...

wrote a book charting Moses Curiel's life, ''An Amsterdam Jewish Merchant of the Golden Age: Jeronimo Nunes Da Costa (1620-1697), Agent of Portugal in the Dutch Republic''.

References

Heidelberg University alumni Dutch nobility Portuguese nobility Portuguese diplomats Dutch merchants Dutch Sephardi Jews Curiel family 1620 births 1697 deaths {{Europe-diplomat-stub