Disease, religion and medicine: smallpox in nineteenth-century Benin
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| Format: | Artículo científico |
| Language: | en |
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Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
2012
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| _version_ | 1876486502865698816 |
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| author | Elisée Soumonni |
| author_facet | Elisée Soumonni |
| contents | Disease, religion and medicine: smallpox in nineteenth-century Benin Elisée Soumonni Historia Sakpata Smallpox vaccination cult priests medicinal plants The essay examines, with special reference to smallpox, the perception and interpretation of disease in pre- colonial Dahomey, present-day Republic of Benin. Because disease is seen primarily as a punishment from the gods and not just as a medical problem or a bodily disorder, traditional cult priests play a leading role in making diagnoses and prescribing remedies, mostly based on medicinal plants. The prominence of Sakpata, god of smallpox, coupled with the influence of its priests is evaluated within the context of Dahomey’s political history and the spread of the disease. This pivotal position was to constitute a challenge to the French colonial campaign to vaccinate against smallpox. 2012 artículo científico 0104-5970 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=386138072003 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=3861 História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos application/pdf Fundação Oswaldo Cruz História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos (Brasil) Vol.19 |
| format | Artículo científico |
| id | redalyc_386138072003 |
| institution | Redalyc |
| language | en |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Fundação Oswaldo Cruz |
| spellingShingle | Disease, religion and medicine: smallpox in nineteenth-century Benin Elisée Soumonni Historia Sakpata Smallpox vaccination cult priests medicinal plants Disease, religion and medicine: smallpox in nineteenth-century Benin Elisée Soumonni Historia Sakpata Smallpox vaccination cult priests medicinal plants The essay examines, with special reference to smallpox, the perception and interpretation of disease in pre- colonial Dahomey, present-day Republic of Benin. Because disease is seen primarily as a punishment from the gods and not just as a medical problem or a bodily disorder, traditional cult priests play a leading role in making diagnoses and prescribing remedies, mostly based on medicinal plants. The prominence of Sakpata, god of smallpox, coupled with the influence of its priests is evaluated within the context of Dahomey’s political history and the spread of the disease. This pivotal position was to constitute a challenge to the French colonial campaign to vaccinate against smallpox. 2012 artículo científico 0104-5970 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=386138072003 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=3861 História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos application/pdf Fundação Oswaldo Cruz História, Ciências, Saúde - Manguinhos (Brasil) Vol.19 |
| title | Disease, religion and medicine: smallpox in nineteenth-century Benin |
| topic | Historia Sakpata Smallpox vaccination cult priests medicinal plants |
| url | https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=386138072003 |