Tobias Cohn

Tobias Cohen (* 1652 in Metz, † 1729 in Jerusalem ) was a German - Polish physician and writer. He later worked as a physician in Constantinople Opel, Venice and Palestine.

Life

His grandfather Eleazar Kohn was a doctor and came from Jerusalem, he settled in Kamjanez - Podilskyj (Today: Ukraine). The father of Tobias Cohen was also a doctor and told Moses Kohn ( 1598, † May 10, 1659 ), he settled first in Narol - at that time a wealthy trading city in present-day Poland. He fled to France in 1648, when the city was looted during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, and then was a rabbi in Metz under the name Kohen - nerol. After the early death of the father, his mother married fig († 1666) 1663 the Worms Rabbi Samson Bacharach ( 1607-1670 ). The young Tobias went to Talmudic studies back to Poland. However, the Ottoman- Polish War 1672-1676 let him go to study medicine for the University of Padua. In 1685 he came up with a fellow student Gabriel Felix Moschides to Germany for training. He was patronized by the Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. This caused that Tobias Cohen was the first Jew in Germany officially allowed to visit a university and so he was able to study at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder ( his friend Gabriel could also study ). Later he returned to Padua back to his doctorate, since that was not possible in Frankfurt and Germany for Jews. Then settled in Constantinople Opel.

Here he became physician to the Tartar prince Selim Girig Khan and the Sultan Mehmed IV, Suleiman II, Ahmed II, Mustafa II and Ahmed III. In 1724 he went to Jerusalem, where he died in 1729.

Works

He first described the Weichselzopf ( plica polonica ) and published the textbook:

• Ma'aseh Toviyyah ( maazsa Tobia ) 1707, Venice ( Bragadini ) Jesniz 1721 Benjacob 1853