Binjamin Mussaphia

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Binjamin Mussaphia , also Benjamin Mussaphia or Dionys Mussaphia , (* between 1600 and 1606 in Spain , † December 11, 1674 in Amsterdam ) was a philologist and author .

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Binjamin Mussaphia studied medicine in Padua until his doctorate in 1625 . After moving to Hamburg, he married Sara da Silva († 1634), who was a daughter of Semuel da Silva , in 1628 . From 1635 Mussaphia worked as a medic, cosmopolitan writer, lexicologist, advice writer and alchemist for the court of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf . Since Hamburg was an important center of economy and trade, he was able to convey important news to the court from there. He maintained close ties with the Swedish diplomat Johan Adler Salvius and many other “ Portuguese ” scholars.

Mussaphia wrote several articles critical of religion that repeatedly caused conflict. In 1640 he put together several passages of the Hebrew Bible on medical topics in his book Sacro-Medicae sententiae toto V [etere] T [estamento] , which he dedicated to the governor of Glückstadt Christian von Pentz . Since Mussaphia had improperly mixed up medical and theological aspects from her point of view, the Lutherans viewed the work as blasphemous and wrote a protest note to the Hamburg council. They also criticized the fact that the work initially contained a Jewish prayer and that the author denied the virgin birth . Also Johannes Müller , pastor of St. Peter's Church , supported the criticism of Mussaphia and this written in 1644 the book Judaism .

Because of the criticism, Mussaphia was forced to leave Hamburg in the meantime. Before returning to the Hanseatic city, he lived in Glückstadt for several weeks. After administering medicine to a woman from the Holstein nobility stating that it was done in the name of Jesus, he again drew Müller's criticism. He was of the opinion that Mussaphia acted out of "diabolical insult, ridicule and contempt for this name". Since Mussaphia also used alchemical methods, Müller was also of the opinion that the doctor used Kabbalistic letter magic by means of "characters" as healing methods. After another complaint from the clergy, Mussaphia left Hamburg in July 1640 and traveled to Amsterdam via Glückstadt. There he was a member of the rabbinical college and for some time was in charge of the Portuguese community and several community institutions. In 1666 he signed a letter of praise to the self-declared Messiah Shabbtai Zvi , who was venerated by Sephardic communities .

The grave of Mussaphia, who died at the end of 1674, is in the Beth Haim cemetery near Amsterdam.

His daughter Ribca married Jacob Mussaphia .

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personal data
SURNAME Mussaphia, Binjamin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mussaphia, Binjamin Dionys
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Philologist and author
DATE OF BIRTH between 1600 and 1606
PLACE OF BIRTH Spain
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1674
Place of death Amsterdam