Moisés Maimónides, "médico de príncipes, príncipe de los médicos"

Abstract

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) is considered the most prominent figure of Judaism during the Middle Ages. Born within the Sephardic Jewish community of Cordoba, his rich intellectual education (theological, philosophical and medical) together with a deep spirituality gave birth to the figure of a highly humanitarian, rational and dedicated physician. His medical legacy includes ten treatises, among them 'Medical Aphorisms of Moses', a set of 1,500 aphorisms organized in 25 chapters, each dealing with a different area of medicine. His theological works and the renowned 'Guide for the Perplexed' raised his figure as a theologist and modern philosopher, being the latest his most universal creation. His life and legacy are an invitation to raise the medical vocation and practice beyond a simple occupation.