David Curiel
David Curiel, alias Lopo Ramirez, was a Sephardi Jewish merchant.
David Curiel was the son of Dr Abraham Curiel and the brother of Jacob Curiel. He was sent to Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany.
In Amsterdam, David Curiel served as Agent to the Spanish Crown as well as being engaged in the import business of jewellery and gunpowder across Europe. He was a financier of the Spanish delegation at the Peace of Westphalia.
Curiel was perhaps the most prominent member of Amsterdam's Sephardi community and was a generous patron of Hebrew scholarship.
In 1994, the British historian Jonathan Israel wrote a book charting the life of David Curiel, Lopo Ramirez and the Attempt to Establish a Sephardi Community in Antwerp in 1653–1654.
Curiel had two sons born in the Netherlands. Samuel in 1655 and Isaac in 1659. He insisted that his sons be circumcised in accordance with Jewish law and is even said to have refrained from attending the stock exchange on the Sabbath.
