Arquivo António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches
Item
Country
PT
Name of institution (English)
Braga District Archive
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
por
Contact information: postal address
Rua do Abade da Loureira, 4700-356 Braga
Contact information: phone number
00351 253 601 082 (general)
00351 253 601 080 (research and reproduction services)
00351 253 601 080 (research and reproduction services)
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
sec@adb.uminho.pt (general)
adb@adb.uminho.pt (research and reproduction services)
adb@adb.uminho.pt (research and reproduction services)
Reference number
PT/UM-ADB/PSS/AANRS
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches Archive
Title (official language of the state)
Arquivo António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches
Language of title
por
Creator / accumulator
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches
Date(s)
1749/1779
Language(s)
por
Extent
20 documents
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Poor
Scope and content
This collection comprises manuscripts written by or related to António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches. It includes a copy of Ribeiro Sanches' essay on the origins of the distinction between New and Old Christians ("Origem da denominação de Cristão Velho e Cristão Novo no Reino de Portugal"), in which he criticises the blood cleanliness statutes and the ostracism of the New Christians (PT/UM-ADB/PSS/AANRS/000001). Other highlights of this collection are his writings "Dificuldades que tem um reino velho para emendar-se" (PT/UM-ADB/PSS/AANRS/000004), a reflection on the reasons for Portugal's backwardness; and "Memória sobre os banhos de vapor da Rússia considerados para a conservação da saúde e para a cura de várias doenças" (PT/UM-ADB/PSS/AANRS/000023), an account on the virtues of Russian steam baths to the conservation of good health. Almost all documents of this collection are digitalised and available online in
Archival history
This collection belonged to António de Araújo de Azevedo, Count of Barca. In 1926, it was incorporated in the Arquivo Distrital de Braga, together with the Araújo de Azevedo family archive. Several manuscripts, including the António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches's papers, were then separated from this fonds and integrated in the Colecção de Manuscritos (Manuscripts collection). Recently, Ribeiro Sanches' papers were gathered and reorganised in a separate fonds.
Administrative / Biographical history
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (1699-1783) was born in Penamacor in a New Christian family that was intensely persecuted by the Inquisition during the first decades of the 18th century. After studying Law and Medicine at the universities of Coimbra and Salamanca, he moved to London in 1726 and joined his uncle Diogo Nunes Ribeiro, alias Samuel Nunes Ribeiro. Ribeiro was also a physician, and, in 1733, he took part in the group of Jews sent by the Sephardic congregation of London to the new British settlement in Savannah, Georgia. Sanches remained for a short time in London. During this period, he lived as a public Jew. In the late 1720s, he went to Leiden, where he completed his training under the influence of Herman Boerhaave, who recommended him to the Empress Anna of Russia. Sanches went to Russia in 1731 and became a doctor in the Russian army and later court physician. In 1739, he was appointed a member of both the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg and the Academy of Sciences of Paris.
During these years, Sanches distanced himself from Judaism and tried to return to Christianity. However, the past chased him and, after 15 years serving the Russian court, Sanches left the country for fear of being denounced as a Jew. He moved to Paris in 1747. Later, when Catherine the Great ascended to the throne, Sanches was rewarded with a lifelong pension of 1000 rubles for his services.
Sanches lived in Paris for the rest of his life. There, he became close to some of the most remarkable intellectuals of the Enlightenment and was invited to write an article on syphilis for Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie, the only one written by a Portuguese author. Even in exile, Sanches never broke his contact with Portugal and, through his writings, gave a precious contribution to the reform of Portuguese science, education, and society. It is the case of his works Tratado da Conservação da Saúde dos Povos (1756), Cartas sobre a Educação da Mocidade (1760) and Método para Aprender e Estudar a Medicina (1763). Sanches died in Paris on October 14, 1783.
During these years, Sanches distanced himself from Judaism and tried to return to Christianity. However, the past chased him and, after 15 years serving the Russian court, Sanches left the country for fear of being denounced as a Jew. He moved to Paris in 1747. Later, when Catherine the Great ascended to the throne, Sanches was rewarded with a lifelong pension of 1000 rubles for his services.
Sanches lived in Paris for the rest of his life. There, he became close to some of the most remarkable intellectuals of the Enlightenment and was invited to write an article on syphilis for Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie, the only one written by a Portuguese author. Even in exile, Sanches never broke his contact with Portugal and, through his writings, gave a precious contribution to the reform of Portuguese science, education, and society. It is the case of his works Tratado da Conservação da Saúde dos Povos (1756), Cartas sobre a Educação da Mocidade (1760) and Método para Aprender e Estudar a Medicina (1763). Sanches died in Paris on October 14, 1783.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The documents of this fonds were bound in a volume with no apparent order.
Access, restrictions
Most of the documents of this collection are in poor condition and not accessible for consultation. Their digital copies are available online.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2021
Published primary sources
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Arquivo Distrital de Braga | Collections (official language of the state) |