In the 17th century, the University of Padua was the only European university that admitted non-Catholics, leading many Jews to flock to its medical school. One such student was Rabbi Samson Morpurgo. Edward Reichman recounts Morpurgo’s career, and shares some visually striking documents:
Born in 1681 in Gradisca d’Isonzo [in northeastern Italy], Morpurgo was brought by his father to Venice as a young boy. He spent his entire life in Italy, training to be a rabbi and physician, practicing medicine, composing prayers and poems, engaging in debate and dialogue with some of the generation’s prominent figures, and ultimately serving as the rabbi of the city of Ancona for the last twenty years of his life.
The diplomas of the Jewish graduates of the University of Padua Medical School possess unique features which are reflected in Morpurgo’s diploma. For example, the invocation for a standard-issue medical diploma from Padua in this period, “In Christi Nomine Amen” (in the name of Christ, Amen), is replaced with the non-Christian substitution, “In Dei Aeterni Nomine Amen” (in the name of the Eternal God, Amen). . . . Other changes include the writing of the date as “current year,” as opposed to the typical forms of dating which included Christian reference (e.g., Anno Domini), and the location of the graduation ceremony, which was in a nondenominational venue, as opposed to a church.
In 1730, during a severe influenza outbreak, Morpurgo distinguished himself by providing medical services to both Jew and Christian alike. This was particularly remarkable in light of the papal decrees prohibiting Jews from treating Christians and reciprocally forbidding Christians from being treated by Jews. At the time, [his care for Christians] earned him the approbation and commendation of Cardinal Prospero Lambertini, [who] would later go on to become Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758).
More about: Catholic Church, Italian Jewry, Jewish-Catholic relations, Medicine
