António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (7 March 1699 – 14 October 1783) was an 18th-century Portuguese physician, philosopher and encyclopédiste. He was a '' cristão novo'' of Jewish descent, believed to be secretly a practising Jew. He studied at the universities of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

and

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

. He fled Portugal after being targeted by the Inquisition as a secret practising Jew. Sanches moved then to London. He then went to Leyden University where he completed his formation under the direction of Herman Boerhaave. He subsequently would work as a physician in various European countries. He was among the three physicians recommended to Anna of Russia in 1731. Appointed doctor of the Russian army, he distinguished himself before becoming a court physician. After more than 15 years in Russia, he left the country in 1748 after empress Elizabeth Petrowna had denounced two of his colleagues as Jews. Having had the chance, amid the daily proscriptions which he witnessed to be allowed to leave the country, he took the way to Paris in 1748 where he ended his life. After she ascended to the throne,

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

rewarded him for his services with a pension of 1000 rubles, which was punctually paid until his death. His extensive library was by the empress. He wrote the article "" ("smallpox") in the ''

Encyclopédie , better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...

'' by

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during t ...

and

D'Alembert Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert ( ; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanics, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''E ...

. He was the first to acquaint western physicians with the effects of Russian steam baths. He was considered an "'' Estrangeirado''", a Portuguese that has been influenced greatly by foreign ideas. He was a critic of the nobility, clerical privileges and slavery.

Works

* 1726: ''Discurso Sobre as Águas de Penha Garcia.'' * 1751: ''A Dissertation on the Venereal Disease.'' * 1752: ''Dissertation sur le origine de la maladie vénérienne'', Paris * 1756: ''Tratado da Conservação da Saúde dos Povos.'' * 1760: ''Cartas sobre a Educação da Mocidade.'' * 1763: ''Método para Aprender e Estudar a Medicina.'' * 1771: ''Les bains des vapeurs russe'' * 1774: ''Examen historique sur l´apparition de la maladie vénérienne'' (Paris) * 1779: ''Mémoire sur les Bains de Vapeur en Russie.''.

Bibliography

* Georges Dulac, ''Science et politique : les réseaux du Dr António Ribeiro Sanches'', ''Cahiers du Monde russe'' (ISSN 1252-6576), 2002, 43/2-3, (p. 251–274)
Read online
. * Hugh James Rose, ''A New General Biographical Dictionary'', t. 11, Londres, B. Fellowes, 1857, (p. 443). * José Luis Doria
''Antonio Ribeiro Sanches. A Portuguese doctor in 18th century Europe.''
(PDF; 320 kB) Antonio Ribeiro Sanches, Vesalius, VII, 1, 27 - 35, 2001. * Erwin Ackerknecht: Boerhaave Schüler als Medizinalpolitiker, in Erna Lesky, Adam Wandruszka (Hrsg.) Gerard van Swieten und seine Zeit, Böhlau 1973, (p. 122).

References

External links

New Christians and Old Christians in Portugal, written by Ribeiro Sanches in 1748

João Nabais: Ribeiro Sanches - Tal como Amato um Médico do Mundo
pdf, 60-73 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanches, Antonio Nunes Ribeiro 1699 births 1783 deaths 18th-century Jewish Portuguese physicians People from Penamacor 18th-century Portuguese physicians Portuguese medical writers University of Salamanca alumni Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) Members of the French Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Immigrants to the Russian Empire Jewish scientists from the Russian Empire Portuguese emigrants