And now, the Physician and Surgeon's Almanac for March 30.
Moses Ben Maimon, also called Rambam, or by his Arabic name Abū ʿImran Mūsā ibn Maymūn ibn ʿUbayd Allāh born on March 30, 1135. As a member of the Jewish community of Córdoba, in Islamic Spain, young Moses studied Judaic studies and science and showed remarkable talent in both areas.
When fanatical Islam forced many in the Jewish community to leave Córdoba , the Maimons moved from country to country, from Morocco to Palestine and then to Egypt. All the while, Moses continued his studies in his favorite subjects, rabbinics and Greek philosophy, and added medicine to them.
When his younger brother, a prosperous jewelry merchant died in a shipwreck, taking the entire family fortune with him, Moses was left to support his family. Unable to afford a living on a Rabbi’s income, Moses turned to medicine and became a practicing physician. So successful in private practice and medical education, he later became the court physician to Saladin, the great military leader and Sultan of Egypt and Syria . At the same time he became famous as Maimonides, one of the greatest legal thinkers and philosophers in the history of Judaism and the world.