The mystery of the medical training of the many Isaac Wallichs: Amsterdam (1675), Leiden (1675), Padua (1683), Halle (1703)

Abstract

The Wallich family is a prominent dynastic Jewish family dating back to the Middle Ages, comprised of rabbis, businessman, laymen and physicians. There were at least seven consecutive generations of Wallich physicians, with one Wallich physician treating Louis XV, King of France. A number of the physicians were also rabbis, community leaders and authors of rabbinic works.1 In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, in the span of twenty-eight years, we find the name Isaac Wallich appearing in the archival records of no less than four different medical institutions: Amsterdam (1675), Leiden (1675), Padua (1683) and Halle (1703) (heretofore referred to as Isaac Amsterdam, Isaac Leiden, Isaac Padua, and Isaac Halle). To this day, there remains ambiguity as to the identity of these names, one of which, Isaac Amsterdam, is added to the list here for the first time. While some historians have innocently confused or conflated them,2 others have debated the total number of distinct Isaac Wallichs, suggesting some may have attended multiple institutions.3 Here we present new evidence and previously unpublished archival material clarifying for the first time the definitive unique identities and medical education of the different Isaac Wallichs. This discovery takes on greater significance when placed in the context of Jewish medical history. (from Introduction)