(Ribeiro Sanchez, Antonio). Tratado da conservaçam da saude dos povos [“On the Conservation of People’s Health]

Antonio Ribeiro Sanchez (1699-1783), of marrano stock, return to Judaism as a young man. Consequently, he abandoned his native Portugal and after a restless period, finally went to Holland, where he studied medicine at the University of Leiden. He was requested to serve as medical adviser at the Court in St. Petersburg, but was later summarily dismissed probably due to his identification with Judaism In the present work, Ribeiro Sanchez examines the influence of environment and climate, including the climates of Brazil and Africa, and is a pioneering work on the importance of hygiene to prevent or contain the spread of epidemics. It includes an appendix on the incidences of earthquakes Although Antonio Nunes Ribeiro Sanchez' marrano identity forced him into exile, his work had a great influence on Portuguese medicine in the second half of the eighteenth century. See D. Willemse, António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (Brill, 1966)