Abraham Capadose
Encyclopedia
The Revd Dr Abraham Capadose or Capadoce (22 August 1795, Amsterdam
– 16 December 1874, The Hague) was a Dutch physician and Calvinist writer. A Jewish convert to Christianity from 1822 onwards, he was part of the Dutch Réveil circle that also included da Costa and Willem de Clercq
.
). In 1796 the position of the Jews in the Netherlands was - at least in the social respect - considerably improved by the middle-class equalization. The Capadose family forms a good example of an emancipated and finally assimilated family.
Little is known of Abraham's youth, except that he was a good pupil of the Latin School. After two years at the Amsterdam Athenaeum studying medicine, he went to the University of Leiden. After four years' study, he graduated as a medical doctor in 1818 and set up as a physician in Amsterdam.
. Thus the young Capadose - together with men such as Isaac da Costa
and the brothers Willem and Dirk van Hogendorp
- heard the history course that Bilderdijk gave as private instruction. Under the influence of Bilderdijk, but perhaps yet more under the influence of Da Costa, Capadose converted to Christianity. Together with Da Costa, Capadose had studied the bible and, like da Costa, had become convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. Abraham, da Costa and da Costa's wife converted to Christianity and were baptised at the Pieterskerk in Leiden on 20 October 1822.
before, two years later, moving to the Hague, where he remained for the rest of his life (barring a one year trip to Switzerland in 1836/37, during which his wife died). In September 1837 he returned to the Netherlands, where in 1839 he married a second time, with Hendrika Jacoba Abrahamsz - she would survive him.
Just like Bilderdijk, De Clercq and Da Costa, Abraham Capadose belonged to the circle of the Dutch Revival movement. This circle resisted the revolutionary and liberal minds and democratic ideas of their time - democracy was, in Capadose's eyes, an act of resistance against the Creator. Capadose is also notorious as a fanatical and outspoken adversary of cowpox
vaccination
, following in the steps of the conservative Willem Bilderdijk. In 1866, Capadose left the Dutch Reformed Church
, seeing it as not strict enough, and for the rest of his life attached himself to no particular religious community.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
– 16 December 1874, The Hague) was a Dutch physician and Calvinist writer. A Jewish convert to Christianity from 1822 onwards, he was part of the Dutch Réveil circle that also included da Costa and Willem de Clercq
Willem de Clercq
Willem de Clercq was secretary and later director of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij . He is also known as a poet and as a leader of the Réveil, the Protestant Revival in the Netherlands. He left behind a gigantic diary, with extensive reports of the events he witnessed...
.
Youth
He was born to the wine merchant Isaac Haim Capadose and Esther Mendes da Costa (both from prominent Portuguese-Jewish familiesSpanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
). In 1796 the position of the Jews in the Netherlands was - at least in the social respect - considerably improved by the middle-class equalization. The Capadose family forms a good example of an emancipated and finally assimilated family.
Little is known of Abraham's youth, except that he was a good pupil of the Latin School. After two years at the Amsterdam Athenaeum studying medicine, he went to the University of Leiden. After four years' study, he graduated as a medical doctor in 1818 and set up as a physician in Amsterdam.
Conversion
During his time at Leiden, where he stayed with his uncle, the well-known physician Immanuel Capadoce, Capadose came more and more under the influence of the well-known speaker - and conservative in the arts - Willem BilderdijkWillem Bilderdijk
Willem Bilderdijk , Dutch poet, the son of an Amsterdam physician. When he was six years old an accident to his foot incapacitated him for ten years, and he developed habits of continuous and concentrated study...
. Thus the young Capadose - together with men such as Isaac da Costa
Isaac da Costa
Isaac da Costa was a Dutch poet.Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Portuguese Jewish, Daniel da Costa, a relative of Uriel Acosta, was a prominent merchant in the city of Amsterdam; his mother, Rebecca Ricardo, was a near relative of the...
and the brothers Willem and Dirk van Hogendorp
Dirk van Hogendorp (1797-1845)
Dirk, Count van Hogendorp , son of Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp, nephew of Dirk van Hogendorp , father of Dirk van Hogendorp jr., was a Dutch jurist. Van Hogendorp lived continually in the shadow of his father, the founder of the first Dutch Constitution.-Life:Van Hogendorp, studied law at Leiden...
- heard the history course that Bilderdijk gave as private instruction. Under the influence of Bilderdijk, but perhaps yet more under the influence of Da Costa, Capadose converted to Christianity. Together with Da Costa, Capadose had studied the bible and, like da Costa, had become convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. Abraham, da Costa and da Costa's wife converted to Christianity and were baptised at the Pieterskerk in Leiden on 20 October 1822.
Later life
In 1829, Capadose married Adriana van der Houven. From this marriage, three children were born. In 1831, Capadose set up in ScherpenzeelScherpenzeel
----Scherpenzeel is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Gelderland. As of June 2008, it has a population of 8945, with approximately 6000 possessing suffrage. The community of Scherpenzeel also contains a part of the hamlet Moorst.-Founding:...
before, two years later, moving to the Hague, where he remained for the rest of his life (barring a one year trip to Switzerland in 1836/37, during which his wife died). In September 1837 he returned to the Netherlands, where in 1839 he married a second time, with Hendrika Jacoba Abrahamsz - she would survive him.
Just like Bilderdijk, De Clercq and Da Costa, Abraham Capadose belonged to the circle of the Dutch Revival movement. This circle resisted the revolutionary and liberal minds and democratic ideas of their time - democracy was, in Capadose's eyes, an act of resistance against the Creator. Capadose is also notorious as a fanatical and outspoken adversary of cowpox
Cowpox
Cowpox is a skin disease caused by a virus known as the Cowpox virus. The pox is related to the vaccinia virus and got its name from the distribution of the disease when dairymaids touched the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by...
vaccination
Vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
, following in the steps of the conservative Willem Bilderdijk. In 1866, Capadose left the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
, seeing it as not strict enough, and for the rest of his life attached himself to no particular religious community.