Article ID: CBB001420619

Disease, Religion and Medicine: Smallpox in Nineteenth-Century Benin (2012)

unapi

Soumonni, Elisée (Author)


História, Ciências, Saúde---Manguinhos
Volume: 19, suppl. 1
Issue: suppl. 1
Pages: 35-45


Publication Date: 2012
Edition Details: Article in a supplementary issue, “Health and Slavery”
Language: English

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.

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Article Almeida, Sílvia Capanema P. de (2012) Corpo, saúde e alimentação na Marinha de Guerra brasileira no período pós-abolição, 1890--1910. História, Ciências, Saúde---Manguinhos (pp. 15-33). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001420619/

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Authors & Contributors
Naono, Atsuko
Junaidi
Folkmanova, Veronika
Cagle, Hubert Glenn, III
Sousa, Claudia Rocha de
Samanta, Arabida
Concepts
Disease and diseases
Medicine
Smallpox
Vaccines; vaccination
Colonialism
Indigenous peoples; indigeneity
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
18th century
17th century
Meiji period (Japan, 1868-1910)
Places
Brazil
Myanmar (Burma)
Spain
India
Africa
Queensland (Australia)
Institutions
World Health Organization (WHO)
Catholic University of Ireland (Dublin)
Royal Belfast Academical Institution
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