Castro, Pedro (Ezekiel) de
CASTRO, PEDRO (Ezekiel) DE
CASTRO, PEDRO (Ezekiel) DE (b. 1603–after 1657), Marrano physician. Born in Bayonne in southern France of Portuguese parents, he studied in Spain, practiced medicine in Avignon and in about 1640 made his way to Verona (Italy) where he joined the Jewish community under the name Ezekiel and lived in the ghetto. After about a decade he apparently reverted to Christianity, renewing his former name. As a Christian he could then join the College of Physicians in Verona. He published works in Italian and Latin on medical and scientific subjects. Three of his medical works were published in 1642 and 1646 when he was a Jew. Once a Christian, Castro was dismissed as physician of the community. The vacant position was probably the reason for Isaac Cardozo's move to Verona. Cardozo had been Castro's teacher of medicine.
bibliography:
H. Friedenwald, Jews and Medicine (1944), index; Roth, in: rej, 94 (1933), 96f.; 95 (1933), 82–85; Cassuto, ibid., 93 (1932), 215–7. add. bibliography. Y.H. Yerushalmi, From Spanish Court to Italian Ghetto… (1971), 210–14
[Cecil Roth /
Yom Tov Assis (2nd ed.)]