Thomas de Pinedo

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Cover of the 1678 edition of Pinedo's work

Thomas de Pinedo (1614 – 13 November 1679), also known as Isaac de Pinedo, was a Jewish scholar best known for his detailed commentary on Stephan of Byzantium's Ethnica.

Life

Thomas was born in 1614 in Trancoso, Beira Province, Portugal,[1] during the period of the Iberian Union. His father was from the noble family of Pinheiro and his mother from the Jewish Fonseca.[1] He was also a relative of the converso or marrano poet Miguel de Silveyra.[2] Thomas left Trancoso to live with his uncle in Madrid, Spain.[1] While there, he studied at the Jesuit Imperial College, where he learned Latin and Greek.

Pinedo fled to the Dutch Republic to escape the Inquisition.[3] (Miguel was similarly forced to flee to the Kingdom of Naples.)[2] While praising his education[3] and avoiding censure of Christianity itself,[4] he pointedly criticized the Inquisition and its supporters,[3] comparing them to the Athenian Areopagus[5][6] and once writing "I am ashamed and reproach myself for having been useful to such Christians". Joining the Dutch Jewish community, he began to go by the name Ishac[7] or Isaac de Pinedo[8] and opposed the philosophy of his contemporary Spinoza. He completed his edition of Stephan's Ethnica with Latin translation and commentary while in the city, publishing it under his former name Thomas. He dedicated the work to Gaspar Ibáñez de Segovia, historian, bibliophile, and consort marquis of Mondejar.[9]

He died on 13 November 1679[10] in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic.[8] De Segovia later wrote to the converso poet Miguel de Barrios of his regret that Pinedo had died without converting from Judaism to Christianity.[3]

Works

Cover of the 1725 edition of Pinedo's work

Pinedo is best known for his edition of Stephan of Byzantium's Ethnica, which he provided in Greek with a parallel Latin translation and commentary, including numerous citations from Jewish historians and travelers such as Josephus and Benjamin of Tudela.[11]

  • Stephan (1678), Περὶ Πόλεων [De Urbibus, On Cities] (in Ancient Greek), Amsterdam: Jacobus de Jonghe.

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Kayserling (1858), p. 193.
  2. ^ a b Scholberg (1971).
  3. ^ a b c d Strong & al. (1880).
  4. ^ Kayserling (1858), pp. 195–196.
  5. ^ Kayserling (1858), p. 197.
  6. ^
    The judges of the court of Areopagus were upright and incorruptible, whence the saying Ἀρειοπαγίτου σκυθρωπότεροϛ, i.e. more harsh than a judge of the Areopagus, and Ἀρειοπαγίτου σιγανότεροϛ, i.e. more taciturn than a judge of the Areopagus. Both could be said of Spanish inquisitors.
    Ejus (of the Areopagus) judices erant integri, et incorrupti, unde parœmia, Ἀρειοπαγίτου σκυθρωπότεροϛ, id est, Areopagita severior, et Ἀρειοπαγίτου σιγανότεροϛ, id est, Areopagita taciturnior. Utrumque vere de Hispaniæ inquisitoribus dici potest.
  7. ^ Emmanuel (1957), p. 355.
  8. ^ a b Zwarts (1924).
  9. ^ Kayserling (1858), p. 195.
  10. ^ Kayserling (1858), p. 201.
  11. ^ Kayserling (1858), p. 199.

Bibliography

  • Emmanuel, Isaac Samuel (1957), Precious Stones of the Jews of Curaçao: Curaçaon Jewry 1656–1957, New York: Bloch Publishing.
  • Kayserling, Meyer (1858), "Thomas de Pinedo: Eine Biographie" [Thomas de Pinedo: A Biography], Monatsschift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums [Monthly Magazine on the History and Study of Judaism] (in German), vol. 7, pt. 5, Leipzig: Heinrich Hunger, pp. 191–202, JSTOR 44382922.
  • Scholberg, Kenneth R. (1971), "Miguel de Silveyra", Encyclopaedia Judaica, Jerusalem: Keter Publishing.
  • Strong, James; et al. (1880), "Thomas de Pinedo", The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, New York: Harper & Brothers.
  • Zwarts, Jacob (1924), "Pinedo", Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek [New Dutch Biographical Dictionary] (in Dutch), vol. 6, Leiden: A.W. Sijtoff, p. 1118.
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