Domenico Gerosolomitano

Domenico Gerosolomitano, born Samuel Vivas, was educated in Safed and became a physician. After settling in Constantinople in the mid-1570s, he served as a personal physician to the sultan for about a decade. During this time, he became a trusted member of the royal court and accompanied the sultan’s sister on a pilgrimage to Mecca. At the beginning of the 1590s, Vivas left for Italy. There, in 1593, he converted to Christianity and took the name Domenico Gerosolomitano (Dominic of Jerusalem). He served as an important censor of Hebrew books in Mantua, Milan, and Rome, and he also taught Hebrew. In 1611, Domenico wrote Relatione della gran città di Constantinopli, which describes the city of Constantinople and the customs of Ottomans and sultans, including some historical events. Domenico translated the Christian Gospels and Apocryphal books into Hebrew and, as part of his work as a censor, compiled a list of passages from Hebrew works that the Inquisition deemed objectionable.