3 8 2 Journal o f t h e Royal Society o f Medicine Volume 7 2 Ma y 1979 D r Thomas Hodgkin a n d Si r Moses Montefiore Bart - t he friendship o f t w o remarkable men' Alex Sakula M D FRCP Redhill General Hospital, Redhill, Surrey, R H I 6 L A D r Thomas Hodgkin earned himself a sure place i n t h e history o f medicine b y h i s original description i n 1832 o f the disease which bears h i s name. Less well known about Hodgkin a re h i s wide humanitarian interests, i n some o f which h e w a s joined b y another great philanthropist, h i s friend a n d patient, S i r Moses Montefiore. T h e story o f t h e association o f these t wo very different men,one a Quaker physician a n d th e other a Jewish financier, remains of great interest, especially their journey together o n a mission o f mercy t o t h e Holy Land, which ended with t h e deathof Hodgkin. Sir Moses Montefiore Bart F R S (1784-1885) Moses Montefiore wasborn o n 2 8 October 1784 i n Livorno. H e came of a n ancient Sephardi Jewish family ofmerchants w h o settled i n Italy i n t h e seventeenth century. H i s grandparents moved t o London i n t h e mid-eighteenth century a n d h a d seventeen children, o n e o f whom, Figure 1 . S i r Moses Montefiore: from a n o i l painting b y H Weigall, 1881. (Courtesy o f National Portrait Gallery, London) Joseph Elias Montefiore, married Rachel, daughter o f Abraham Lambroso d e Mattos Mocatta. S h e a n d h e r husband were o n a visit t o Livorno when s h e gave birth t o h e r s o n Moses. O n their return t o London t h e family lived i n Kennington, where Moses went t o school. Later, h e a n d h i s brother Abraham entered t h e Stock Exchange. I n 1812, Moses Montefiore married Judith, t he daughter o f a n Ashkenazi Jew, Levi Barent Cohen; they h a d n o children. H e lived in Ne w Court, St Swithin's Lane i n t h e City o f London, next door t o h i s friend, t he famous financier Nathan Mayer Rothschild, w h o h a d married h i s wife's sister. T h e brothers Montefiore acted a s brokers t o Rothschild, a n d they both rapidly 1dAccepted 9 M a y 1978 0110687/538--6$O.OO© 99Te a oceyo Mdcn , . " 1979 T he Royal Society o f Medicine 1 41-0768/79/050382-06/$Ol .00/0
