Samuel Sarfati (died 1519), known as Gallo, was a prominent Italian physician and leader of the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community in Rome.

Family

Samuel Sarfati was the father of Joseph Sarfati (d. 1527), personal physician and medical adviser to

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

, and a poet in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Activities in Rome

Status and privileges

Originally from

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, Sarfati moved to Rome in 1498. After settling in Rome,

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

extended privileges on him such as permission to treat Christian patients and permission to not wear the special distinguishing Jewish badge that Jews were required to wear. He was a community leader, and represented the Jewish community at the coronation of Pope Julius II in 1503.

Physician to the pope

In 1504, Sarfati became the Pontifical

Archiater An archiater () was a chief physician of a monarch, who typically retained several. At the Roman imperial court, their chief held the high rank and specific title of ''Comes archiatrorum''. The term has also been used of chief physicians in commun ...

during the reign of

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

. In August 1511, according to

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

, Sarfati successfully treated a "serious illness" of

, which some historians theorize might have been

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

Other notable patients

In 1515, Sarfati became the physician of

Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici People with the Italian name, Italian given name or surname Giuliano () have included: Origin and meaning Giuliano is an Italian form of Julian (given name), Julian, a masculine name meaning "youthful". A patronymic Italian surname derived from G ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarfati, Samuel 16th-century Italian physicians 16th-century Jewish physicians Medieval Jewish physicians Physicians from Florence People from Provence Provençal Jews Physicians from Rome 1519 deaths Year of birth unknown 16th-century Italian Jews