Daniel Mendoza

Daniel Mendoza (5 July 1764 – 3 September 1836) (often known as Dan Mendoza) was a prominent English prizefighter in the 1780s and 90s, and was also highly regarded as an instructor of pugilism. He was of Sephardic or Portuguese Jewish descent. Mendoza played a significant role in the development of scientific technique in boxing, by publishing two books on the subject ('The Art of Boxing' and 'The Modern Art of Boxing') and by holding frequent public exhibitions. Modern sources regularly depict Mendoza as having been English Prizefighting Champion from 1792-1795, although contemporary sources from the late 18th and early 19th century never describe Mendoza in this way. Early life and ancestry Daniel Mendoza was born in Whitechapel, Aldgate, London, England, on 5 July 1764, to a family of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also known as Sephardim. By the time he was born, Jews had been allowed to settle in England for about one hundred years, having been readmitted officially by Cromwell in 1656. They were still regarded by many Londoners with a degree of suspicion and faced significant antisemitism. Mendoza's ancestors came from Jaén, Spain; they had emigrated to the Netherlands, which had a policy of toleration, where his grandfather was born. The family moved to London, with ancestors living there for a century before Mendoza's birth. Several sources wrote that some of his London ancestors from Spain had earlier concealed their Jewish identity and converted to Christianity, becoming Maranos. According to many genealogical websites, his parents were Abraham Aaron Mendoza and Esther Lopez and were believed to be artisans. Jewish scholar Albert Hyamson wrote that Aaron Mendoza, a ritual slaughterer or shochet, who had written a book on his craft in 1773, was his grandfather. Mendoza attended a Jewish school, Shaare Tikvah, where he was instructed in English grammar, writing and arithmetic, as well as Hebrew. He grew up in London's East End in poor surroundings and worked as a glass cutter, laborer, assistant to a green grocer, and an actor before taking up boxing as a profession.