Gabriel da Fonseca

Gabriel da Fonseca (February 1586 - 12 December 1668) was a Portuguese New Christian physician who worked as Pope Innocent X’s personal physician.

He settled in Rome in the 1620s, spending his career treating high-ranking Roman Catholic clergymen. He died in Parione in 1668. A bust of Fonseca, sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is located in the basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina.

Background Gabriel da Fonseca was born in Lamego in late February 1586 to Lisbon treasurer Diogo Rodrigues Fonseca and Isabel Gomes. He studied at the University of Pisa in 1603, receiving his doctorate in 1609. It was common for Portuguese physicians to study in Italy during this time due to the prestige Italian institutions offered. It is possible Fonseca left Portugal to hide his Jewish origins, as Philip II of Portugal had —in 1604, by royal decree — officially excluded Jews from studying or practicing medicine.

Fonseca's uncle, Rodrigo da Fonseca, was already an established physician in Pisa, and probably encouraged him to become a physician. Fonseca also had a sister, Violante, who died in Rome.

Career Fonseca was Professor of Logic at the Academy of Pisa from 1609 to 1611. Afterwards he left for Rome to tend to bishop Gaspar de Borja y Velasco.

Fonseca accompanied Borja to Naples upon Borja's appointment as Viceroy in 1620. Fonseca then entered the service of Borja's successor, Spanish bishop Antonio Zapata y Cisneros, and also taught at the University of Naples. He eventually returned to Rome, where he lived until his death.

Many of Fonseca's family settled in Rome. His allegiance to Rome was so strong that he apparently rejected offers to work for Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando II de' Medici and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, as it would require relocating. Fonseca went on to treat high-ranking members of the Roman Catholic clergy, such as future Pope Urban VIII, Maffeo Barberini.

In 1623, he published his book Medici Oeconomia economies, a treatise of medical deontology. Fonseca and Cardinal Juan de Lugo, a Spanish theologian, were among the first advocates in Rome promoting the use of quinine to treat malaria.