José R. Jouve Martín, The Black Doctors of Colonial Lima

Jouve Martín's book examines a time, the late colonial and early republican period, when ‘individuals of African descent, broadly referred to in the documentation as negros, mulatos and pardos, played a prominent role in the practice of medicine in Lima’ (p. xiii). He focuses on three doctors, José Manuel Valdés (1767–1843), José Manuel Dávalos (1758–1821) and José Pastor de Larrinaga (1758–c. 1821). They were members of a larger cohort of Afro-Peruvian medical practitioners of various types. However, in contrast to most other black physicians, they left a significant written record. Jouve Martín shows that these three doctors' careers challenge assumptions about the racial order in late colonial and early republican Peru. After all, they were able to access scientific knowledge and build prestigious careers in medicine. As such, they defied the racialised exclusion that most Afro-Peruvians were subjected to and served as advocates for more humane treatment of enslaved blacks. At the same time, with the exception of Larrinaga, they did not view Afro-Peruvians of lower social status or, a fortiori, slaves, as their equals

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