Ángel Pulido Fernández (1852–1932) was a Spanish physician, publicist and Liberal politician, who stood out as prominent philosephardite during the Restoration.

Biography

Born on 2 February 1852 in the calle de las Infantas, Madrid, to a humble Catholic family of Asturian origin. He took studies in Medicine during the

Sexenio Democrático The ''Sexenio Revolucionario'' or ''Sexenio Democrático'' ("six revolutionary/democratic years") is a period of six years between 1868 and 1874 in the history of Spain. The ''Sexenio Democrático'' starts on 30 September 1868 with the overthro ...

(1868–1874). He vowed to rebuild the links between and the

Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

, descendant of those expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century. He coined the expression ''españoles sin patria'' (Spaniards without a homeland) to refer to Sephardi Jews. His brand of Philosephardism, marked by a racialist approach, was not exempt, not unlike other philosephardists, from a certain degree of

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

, and also stressed the superiority of Sephardi Jews over

Ashkenazim Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

. Aside from the pro-Sephardi cause, he also campaigned for humanization of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, for the

professionalization Professionalization or professionalisation is a social process by which any tradesman, trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often ...

of veterinarians, in favour of blind people and in favour of

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. He became a member of the National Royal Academy of Medicine. Elected Senator by the Academy of Medicine in 1899, and later in 1903 by the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

, Pulido became a Senator for life in 1910. He died on 4 December 1932.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulido, Angel 1852 births 1932 deaths Members of the Senate of Spain Philosephardism in Spain 19th-century Spanish physicians 20th-century Spanish physicians Spanish people of Asturian descent Politicians from Madrid Proponents of scientific racism