Uriel da Costa

Uriel da Costa
Uriel da Costa, posthumous portrait by Leon Bakst (1897)
Born	Gabriel da Costa Fiuza 1585 Porto, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	1640 C. Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
Education	Universidade de Coimbra, Faculty of Law (BA, June 1608)
Era	17th century Philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
Institutions	University of Coimbra
Main interests	Biblical Criticism, Criticism of Judaism, Philosophy of Religion, ethics, morality
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Uriel da Costa (Portuguese: [uɾiˈɛl dɐ ˈkɔʃtɐ]; also Acosta or d'Acosta; c. 1585 – April 1640) was a Portuguese Sephardi philosopher who was born a New Christian but returned to Judaism, whereupon he questioned the Catholic and rabbinic orthodoxies of his time. This led him into conflict with both Christian and rabbinic institutions: his books were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum and he was excommunicated by several Jewish authorities. His iconoclastic life culminated in suicide in c. 1640.