Language:
English
Year of publication:
1993
Titel der Quelle:
Bulletin of the History of Medicine
Angaben zur Quelle:
67,2 (1993) 248-281
Keywords:
Antisemitism History 1500-1800
;
Jews Medicine 1500-
;
History
;
Judaism and science History 1500-
Abstract:
In ca. 1781 a French physician, Dr. Le Jau, wrote a memoir to the Société Royale de Médecine on the health problems of the Jews of Phalsbourg, a small town in Lorraine. He described their diseases, dietary habits, and temperaments. Le Jau's memoir was emblematic of the debate over the emancipation of (Ashkenazi) Alsatian Jews in the era of the French Revolution; he considered the Jews to be a separate nation. The debate concerning emancipation centered on whether the supposed negative attributes of Jews (physical, spiritual, and social) could be improved by changing their legal status. Suggests that increased international awareness in France stimulated discussion of how the attributes of other peoples, including Ashkenazi Jews, could be explained as a result of religion, persecution, legislation, occupation, or inherited physical and psychological traits.
Note:
Offprint.
URL:
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