Isaac Henrique Sequeira (1738-1816) was a Portuguese Sephardic Jewish doctor.

Early life

Sequeira was born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, and educated at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

Career

Sequeira served as physician extraordinary to the Portuguese Embassy at the

Court of St James's The Court of St James's serves as the official royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The court formally receives all ambassadors accredited to the United Kingdom. Likewise, ambassadors representing the United Kingdom are formally ...

in London, and honorary physician extraordinary to the Portuguese prince regent. He was a licentiate of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

(LCP) and practised medicine in Mark Lane. Sequeira was painted in about 1775 by

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

, one of his patients, and that oil painting now hangs in Madrid's

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

Personal life

Sequeira married Esther d'Aguilar (1739-1791), the daughter of

Baron Diego Pereira d'Aguilar Baron Diego Lopes Pereira d'Aguilar (born 1699 Portugal; died 10 August 1759, London) was a Portuguese-born London-based Jewish businessman, community leader and philanthropist, originally a Portuguese converso, who lived in the 18th century. He ...

. In ''Jews and Medicine: An Epic Saga'', Frank Heynick describes him as "wealthy and pompous". On 21 April 1814, his daughter Lydia died. His descendants include Jane Sequeira, a British doctor married to the financier

Jonathan Ruffer Jonathan Ruffer DL (born 17 August 1951) is a British City investor, art collector and philanthropist. Early life Jonathan Ruffer was born on 17 August 1951 in London, England, to Major John Edward Maurice Ruffer (1912-2010) and Dorothy ("Dodo ...

, who collects Spanish old masters and Gainsborough paintings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sequeira, Isaac Henrique 1738 births 1816 deaths 18th-century Jewish Portuguese physicians 18th-century Portuguese physicians European Sephardi Jews