ROCAMORA, ISAAC DE

ROCAMORA, ISAAC DE (1601–1684), Spanish Judaizer. Born into a Marrano family of Valencia, Rocamora became a Dominican friar, known as Vincente de Rocamora. His eloquence and reputation for piety led to his appointment as confessor to Princess Maria of Spain, subsequently the empress of Austria. In 1643, Rocamora disappeared from the Spanish peninsula. He made his way to Amsterdam and proclaimed himself a Jew, circumcising himself and adopting the name Isaac. In Amsterdam, Rocamora studied medicine and embarked on a successful career as a physician. He also played a significant role in the communal and cultural life of Amsterdam Jews. Designated an arbiter in the Academia de los Sitibundos, a literary society founded by Manuel de belmonte , Rocamora himself wrote Spanish and Latin verse. He provided administrative and medical services for Abi Yetomim, the community orphanage, and for the Maskil el Dal, the immigrant relief society. His son, SOLOMON, was also a physician in Amsterdam. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. Roth, History of the Marranos (1932), 246, 298, 337; Graetz, Gesch, 10 (1896), 179–80, 183; Graetz, Hist, 5 (1895), 109–10, 113; Kayserling, Bibl. 84; idem, Sephardim (Ger., 1859), 291–2.