COSTA, BENJAMIN MENDEZ DA:
Philanthropist; born in 1704; died in England 1764. His family was among the most ancient and honorable of the Portuguese Jews, and Da Costa himself was in the foremost ranks of the Hebrew merchants of his day. As an instance of his philanthropy he distributed, during his lifetime, £3,000 a year in charity to the poor of all creeds. In 1762, in conjunction with Isaac de David Levy, he endowed a yeshibah, bestowing yearly distributions on the students who attended it. By a codicil to his will he desired his benefactions to be continued during the lives of the indigent families who had received his bounty.
Bibliography:
- J. Picciotto, Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History, pp. 89, 95, 155.
