Aaron Lopez (1731–1782), born Duarte Lopez, was a Portuguese Jewish merchant and philanthropist. Through his varied commercial ventures, he became the wealthiest person in Newport, Rhode Island, in British America. In 1761 and 1762, Lopez unsuccessfully sued the Colony of Rhode Island for citizenship.

Early life

Duarte Lopez was born in 1731 in Lisbon, Portugal. He belonged to a family of conversos who professed Catholicism while they continued to practice Judaism in secret. In 1750 Lopez married a woman named Anna, and within two years the couple had a daughter, Catherine.

Aaron's older brother José had left Portugal years earlier, reclaimed his Jewish identity, and taken the name Moses. Moses was naturalized in 1740 and granted a license by the General Assembly to make potash in 1753, and he became a successful merchant in Newport. In 1752 Duarte and his family moved to Newport, where they lived as Jews and became Aaron, Abigail, and Sarah.

Business

Lopez established himself as a shopkeeper in Newport shortly after his arrival. By 1755 he was buying and selling goods throughout Rhode Island and dealing with agents in Boston and New York.

In the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, Aaron אַהֲרֹן (UK /ˈɛərən/, US /ˈærən/) was the older brother of Moses (Exodus 6:16-20, 7:7; Qur'an 28:34) and a prophet of God. Unlike Moses, who grew up in the Egyptian royal court, Aaron and his elder sister Miriam remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt (Goshen). When Moses first confronted the Egyptian king about the Israelites, Aaron served as his brother's spokesman ("prophet") to Pharaoh. (Exodus 7:1) Part of the Law (Torah) that Moses received from God at Sinai granted Aaron the priesthood for himself and his male descendants, and he became the first High Priest of the Israelites. Various dates for his life have been proposed, ranging from approximately 1600 to 1200 BC. Aaron died before the Israelites crossed the Jordan river and he was buried on Mount Hor (Numbers 33:39; Deuteronomy 10:6 says he died and was buried at Moserah). Aaron is also mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible.

Account in the Hebrew Bible

Aaron is the brother of Moses in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts.

Aaron or Aaron's may also refer to:

Name

Fictional characters

Places

Other uses

Aaron Scotus, Irish abbot and musician, fl. late 10th century – 14 December 1052.

Background

Aaron was an Irish abbot and music theorist, the term Scotus at the time denoting Irish (person).

St. Martin's of Cologne

A Benedictine, Scotus was the abbot of St. Martin, Cologne, Germany in the year 1042. He pilgrimaged in his youth to Colonia to the Gaelic-Irish convent of St. Martin. He became abbot of the same in 1042. He was identified with Aaron, abbot of St. Pantaleon. Today historians reject this identification.

Work as a composer

It is believed that he first introduced the Gregorian evening service (nocturns) into Germany. He authored two historically important treaties: De utilitate cantus vocalis et de modo cantandi atque psallendi and De regulis tonorum et symphoniarum. The library of St. Martin, Cologne conserves his work Tractatum de utilitate cantus vocalis et de modo cantandi atque psallendi. He wrote three musical treatises, all of which have been lost.

Aaron died on December 14, 1052.